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Wow, I can't believe that you describe DDL as "blank" in the scene where he realizes the guy claiming to be his brother is a phony! His face was full of the kind of horror and revulsion a person like him would feel at realizing he had mistakenly opened himself up to the "wrong" person--his reaction goes a long way in "explaining" his misanthropic character--the man can't stand closeness, openness, emotional dependence. The character's "hamminess" I think is a result of a man who can't be close to people--he literally has to act around others. While I found his character difficult to empathize with, I think he is representative of a kind of destructive and essentially misanthropic "maleness" all too common in our country, where men like him are often quite successful. I could see a lot of my father in the character--terrified of emotional closeness while craving it, hating to see anyone else success because that somehow makes you "lesser"--the character was a kind of cautionary figure and I don't mind that it was at times a bit over the top.
