A Love Song for Bobby Long
By: Mark Runyon | Category: DVD Archive | 04/26/05 | 06:20 PM
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Grade: B+ | Genre: Independent Drama
Summary: This is a foggy love story about how each of these individuals loved Lorraine in their own unique way. Their love for her takes them on a journey from strangers to family as they find in one another those missing memories that create a family, to share the joy and support each other when the times turn hard. |
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 Starring: John Travolta, Scarlett Johansson & Gabriel Macht
Director: Shainee Gabel
John Travolta is quite the interesting cat. He's an icon of American cinema who made disco cool in Saturday Night Fever, who taught us how to ride a mechanical bull in Urban Cowboy and showed us what it takes to be a gangster in Pulp Fiction. Yet for every role that cements his name in the annuals of acting lore, he seems to star in four bad films to offset it. For those brief moments that he shines, he forces us to completely forget about all those times we shuffled out of the theatre with the foul taste of disappointment stale in our mouths. Such is the case in a Love Song for Bobby Long. Travolta embraces the virtue of his talent in this thoughtful indie tale of strangers, family, and discovery.
One woman, we never meet, triggers the gathering of the host of colorful characters filling out this movie. We attend Lorraine Will's funeral housed in one of the historic graveyards in New Orleans. Her estranged daughter, Purcy (Johansson), is notified of her mother's passing second hand and arrives a day late of the funeral. She walks into her mother's dilapidated house to find that two of her mother's old friends, Bobby Long (Travolta) and Lawson Pines (Macht), have been squatting there for some time. Bobby convinces Purcy that her mother left the house to the three of them. At first, Purcy doesn't want anything to do with the heap. Then she warms to the idea once she ponders the fact that she really has nowhere else to go. Bobby makes it his life's mission to drive out this intruder from their humble abode through acting like a royal horse's ass. The two are steady alcoholics that seem to have more vodka at any given time than anything to mix with it. Bobby is an ex-professor of literature and continually substitutes his emotions for the quotations of literary giants. Lawson is tirelessly working on a novel about Bobby's life, though he seems to work harder on finding creative ways to destroy the pages than making any real progress. Lawson seems to ground the friction that mounts between the pigheaded Bobby and Purcy. As time moves on, we see these characters soften towards one another as they begin to take down their insurmountable walls.
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| Buy or Rent A Love Song for Bobby Long Now. |
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The build-up of the first thirty minutes is extremely slow and prodding. We see the surface of all these characters, and though they are interesting, you start to wonder why we care about this predicament. The only thing keeping you plugged in is Scarlett Johansson and this peculiar turn by John Travolta. The questions just start to back up in your mind. Why did Bobby's teaching days end at Auburn? What happened to his family? Why is this young protege seemingly satisfied to follow his eccentric teacher around instead of leading a more productive life? Without warning, the story starts to peel back the thin layers of this massive tale one at a time. We make small, fascinating discoveries that illuminate these characters and really plant us firmly into their lives. The story, and the actor's work fleshing it out, is the strongest part of this film. Johansson shows why she is the latest 'It' girl on the indie scene after following up such compelling performances in Lost in Translation and In Good Company. I think she is incapable of venturing into a bad script. In Bobby Long, we see her chrysalis from trailer park trash walking a dead end life into a student running after her dream of becoming an X-ray technician. Travolta is very impressive as this peculiar bum who lives his life drowning his demons in the bottle while eating great works of literature. The cropped white hair really scraps your preconceived notions of this actor and let's you see him anew.
Another strong asset held by this film is the beautiful city of New Orleans. The house is on the outskirts of town and between its rotting boards lays the history of this rich town. The scenery is absorbing where the smell of Cajun pervades the mosquito filled air. The neighbors that fill in the gaps are an eccentric lot, which hang out at the local bar and gather at the neighbor's trailer to listen to Bobby play his guitar and chew on stories of the past. All of the small elements, like the craggy moss filled trees silhouetted against the sun falling over coastal Louisiana, really add a second life to this tale.
At the end, this is a foggy love story about how each of these individuals loved Lorraine in their own unique way. Their love for her takes them on a journey from strangers to family as they find in one another those missing memories that create a family, to share the joy and support each other when the times turn hard.
Buy or rent A Love Song for Bobby Long.
What are you talking about? Eight Legged Freaks is a very touching tale about one man's triumph over insurmountable odds.
Posted by: Mark at April 27, 2005 06:31 PM
"I think she is incapable of venturing into a bad script."
Have you seen "Eight Legged Freaks?"
Posted by: Patrick at April 27, 2005 04:26 PM
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