Robert Shaw did it

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2004)

Of course I agree that Jaws is one of the greatest movies ever made. I first saw it age 15 in a local cinema in my native Germany (dubbed of course but as is the standard in Germany - top quality)and I was blown away. I never saw anything with that natural acting approach and grandeur before that.
Now after way over a quarter of a century I have seen this movie again on DVD in its original English version and here is what I have to say>
This is one hell of a movie but not without some minor flaws.
I mean who am I to judge Steven Spielberg... This man has got the talent for grandeur but in order to achieve this he goes for overacting in all his movies. Just watch Laura Dern in Jurassic Park or even the great John Malkovitch in Empire of the Sun. The master director undoubtedly goes for, or allows for, overacting. I personally find it annoying and distracting from Spielberg's otherwise impeccable production values.
The same can already clearly be seen in Jaws. All actors are overacting. I mean all. Let's watch and judge this true classic from a 2004 point of view and we can clearly see it.
What saves the movie and makes it a classic is the casting. Some actors can overact and still be great or they simply never overact no matter what the director might scream into the megaphone.
Richard Dreyfuss is overacting but he is a brilliant actor so it doesn't hurt.
Lorraine Gary is way overacting bordering on cheesy but we can forgive her placing her in the big picture.
Roy Scheider definitely is the center point, our identification figure. Any movie with Roy Scheider in it can't go wrong. He is a wonderful actor and he just won't overact.
Robert Shaw IMHO simply IS the movie. His performance is way beyond brilliant. Spielberg's first choice for Quint's part was Lee Marvin, admittedly a great actor but most likely he would haveben a poor choice since he was and is too known from other movies before Jaws.
The fact that Shaw got the part IMveryHO was what turned the movie into a classic. His performance as a "working class hero" as the Richard Dreyfuss character puts it is simply outstanding. Shaw has no problem showing his thinning hair or taking out a false tooth. That makes Quint all the more frightening and believable. Shaw's over the top old salt with a British accent IS the movie.
The fact that Quint by coincidence was on the USS Indianapolis seems a bit contrived when the film is viewed today with knowledge of the real event on captain Mc Vay's ship, but Robert Shaw makes it seem convincing and even more - the trauma he suffered makes his character seem even more believable.
God bless robert Shaw. What a great actor and what a waste to see him being cast during the late 1970s in some really bad movies probably being the effect of the success of Jaws.
Bottom line> Spielberg has the sense and talent to create grandeur but he goes for overacting bordering on the cheesy in some roles even until today.
As soon as he has even just one top notch actor in the cast such as Shaw who can overact as much as one can imagine and still remains to good to be true(or Jeff Goldblum or Ben Kingsley or Morgan Freman who all seem to insist on the high art of slightly underacting or to put it better, a natural talent that overrides anything a director might say)Spielberg has a home run. This director has a wonderful talent for all the rest including lighting, editing, photography and of course choice of music in form of the great John Williams - maybe the best film composer alive today.
Jaws is a great movie (closing our eyes to the clumsy and definitely failed fake looking shark called Bruce) and I repeat that Robert Shaw's brilliant performance must take a great part of the credit. Period.