Look before you leap — or sign

Tom Berenger earned a best-supporting-actor Academy Award nomination for his gripping portrayal of a bitterly twisted combat sergeant in the 1986 Vietnam War film “Platoon.” But he will get no nominations for common-sense awards after failing to read an amendment to a prenuptial agreement before signing it.

At least that’s the version of embarrassing events in Mr. Berenger’s recently filed lawsuit against a Beaufort attorney. The actor, who has been a Beaufort resident for nearly three decades since coming there to play a role in “The Big Chill,” contends that attorney Dean Bell counseled him that he need not read a 2005 amendment to his 1998 prenup with his third wife, Patricia Alvara.

The suit charges that the alleged advice cost Mr. Berenger more than $100,000 after the couple divorced a year ago.

But Mr. Bell, in a March 2011 deposition, said his representation of Mr. Berenger in that case was “ministerial” — and merely to “review the agreement for purposes of whether or not it appears to be legally enforceable.”

If Mr. Berenger really didn’t read a legal document before signing it, he’s got plenty of company.

The moral of this plot line?
Read the script before you take the part.