A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
Average Rating: 5.4/10
Reviews Counted: 99
Fresh: 42 | Rotten: 57
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 16
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 22,058
My Rating
Movie Info
Bobby Long (John Travolta) is a washed up former literature professor with a voracious drinking habit. He lives in a rundown house in New Orleans with Lawson Pines (Gabriel Macht of The Recruit), his former star pupil, also an alcoholic. Lawson is allegedly writing a novel about Bobby. Their depressive little corner of the world is disrupted when Lorraine, the beloved eccentric singer who owns their house, dies. Her teenage daughter, Pursy (Scarlett Johansson), who hasn't seen her mother in
Cast
-
John Travolta
Bobby Long -
Scarlett Johansson
Pursy Will -
Gabriel Macht
Lawson Pines -
Deborah Kara Unger
Georgianna -
Dane Rhodes
Cecil -
Don Brady
Old Man -
Walter Breaux
Ray -
Dave Jensen
Junior -
Patrick McCullough
Streetcar Boy -
Sonny Shroyer
Earl -
Carol Sutton
Ruthie -
William H. Barnett
Old Man #2 -
Nick Loren
Merchant -
Clayne Crawford
Lee -
Douglas M. Griffin
Man #1 -
Steven Maye
Man #3 -
Warren Blosjo
Sean -
Gina "Ginger" Bernal
Waitress -
Earl Maddox
Man #2 -
Leanne Cochran
Streetcar Girl -
Brooke Mueller
Sandy -
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All Critics (104) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (59) | DVD (19)
Traffics in nearly every trite cliche of the 'colorful' South one can think of.
Top CriticSentimental but occasionally moving drama.
Engaging and transparent at once.
A Love Song for Bobby Long travels all the worn-out roads.
First-time director Shainee Gabel generally does a good job of moving things along, though the story feels disjointed at times.
The movie can't save itself from stewing in some awfully familiar juices.
Not for kids, and not worth it for adults.
The film's liabilities outweigh its assets.
A Love Song for Bobby Long's trio of lead performances are surprisingly believable.
With the audience so much farther ahead of the curve than its characters, the movie then becomes an exercise in tedium...
Johansson's performance is riveting, and Travolta, playing off her and reveling in the role of an aging, alcoholic sage, turns in one of the best performances of his career.
Mais um daqueles independentes norte-americanos cuja presunção de soar profundo logo revela sua verdadeira intenção: emocionar através do melodrama.
Tries the patience of sober viewers, who are likely to envy the onscreen eccentrics their ever-present plastic cups of Abita...
We should take it no more seriously than we would Bobby Long himself. Like the old professor, it talks such amusing nonsense.
The film shares many qualities with its rambling and at times honestly endearing characters: it's sloppy, decent-hearted and most often embarrassing.
It's little more than a collection of cliches about the Deep South, alcoholism and the literary arts.
Things move at a snail's pace in the humid bayou atmosphere writer-director Shainee Gabel creates, allowing Travolta to chew several yards of Cajun-spiced scenery.
This, incidentally, is one of the rare movies about authors in which the character's writing actually seems good enough to be publishable.
John is a fine actor, he's not quite a match for this part, nor does his southern accent ring true. Perhaps Billy Bob Thornton would have made a better cast.
Delights as often as it dulls the senses.
Audience Reviews for A Love Song for Bobby Long
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Latest News on A Love Song for Bobby Long
January 6, 2005:
John Travolta and James Gandolfini Join Lonely Hearts
November 22, 2004:
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Exactly my opinion about the movie. When I came to leave my rating, I saw it already being rated as "NOT INTERESTED". Time!!! But having seen it now, it's neither awfully boring (give or take a few moments) nor the least interesting.All the same, relatively better than a few I recently sat through. Check it out if you're running out of options.