A Love Song for Bobby Long

[MacGuffin]

 

Trailer here.

Release Date: December 29th, 2004

Cast: John Travolta (Bobby Long), Scarlett Johansson (Pursy Will), Gabriel Macht (Lawson Pines), Deborah Kara Unger (Georgianna), Dane Rhodes (Cecil)

Director: Shainee Gabel (feature directorial debut)

Screenwriter: Shainee Gabel

Premise: Upon hearing of her mother's death, jaded teenage loner Purslane Hominy Will (Scarlett Johansson) returns to New Orleans for the first time in years, ready to reclaim her childhood home. Expecting to find her late mother's house abandoned, Pursy is shocked to discover that it is inhabited by two of her mother's friends: Bobby Long (John Travolta), a former literature professor, and his young protégé, Lawson Pines (Gabriel Macht). These broken men, whose lives took a wrong turn years before, have been firmly rooted in the dilapidated house for years, encouraged only by Lawson's faltering ambitions to write a novel about Bobby Long's life. Having no intention of leaving, Pursy, Bobby Long and Lawson are all forced to live together. Yet as time passes, their tenuous, makeshift arrangement unearths a series of buried personal secrets that challenges their bonds, and reveals just how inextricably their lives are intertwined.

[NEON MERCURY]

best title ever

[Ghostboy]

What this movie has going for it is a good John Travolta performance. Hammy, but really good. And he sings in it, which is cool. Other than that ...the movie starts off kinda okay, looks like it might get better, and then takes a sudden and precipitous dive into Lifetime territory. You can almost see the director aspiring for David Gordon Green-like material, than deciding she (he?) isn't good enough and retreating to the comfort zone of the laughably maudlin.

HOWEVER

If you are a Scarlett fan, you should see this, because (visually) she glows more than she ever has in this movie. The cinematography is gorgeous, and Scarlett is gorgeous, and her costumes accentuate her gorgeousness in a rather profound way. All together, it's a rather sumptuous display of Scarlett-ness. And her performance is good too. Too bad there's not a good movie to back up her presence.

[Chest Rockwell]

Dang. That's discouraging. I'll see it, still.

[SiliasRuby]

I saw this two nights ago at a friends place. Scarlett is as gorgeous as she has ever been in this little ditty of a film that has decided to be in my top 100 after viewing. Travolta's soo good, slightly over the top but very very good. You can feel the inspiration DGG but him not really achieving that aura that Gordon does so well. The story is fine, but not phenomenol but man do I love Scarlett.

[private witt]

Travolta's...slightly over the top ....

Not to be a jerk, but I could have guessed that from the photo up top with his arm slung around Scarlett.  It looks like he's doing comedy.