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Movies / On DVD / A Love Song for Bobby Long
A Love Song for Bobby Long

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A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)

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43 %
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Reviews Counted: 98

Fresh: 42

Rotten:56

Average Rating: 5.5/10

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language including some sexual references

Runtime: 2 hrs

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Dec 29, 2004 Limited

Box Office: $121,476

Synopsis: Lions Gate Films' A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG is the poignant story of a wayward girl and two men, each scarred by their pasts, who struggle to mend their broken lives and create a home together in... Lions Gate Films' A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG is the poignant story of a wayward girl and two men, each scarred by their pasts, who struggle to mend their broken lives and create a home together in a forgotten section of New Orleans. Starring John Travolta, Scarlett Johannson, Gabriel Macht and Deborah Kara Unger, A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG is the feature film directorial debut of Shainee Gabel (ANTHEM), who wrote the screenplay based on Ronald Everett Capps' soon-to-be-published novel, Off Magazine Street. The film is produced by Bob Yari, R. Paul Miller and David Lancaster. 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... A story about love and human frailty, A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG is at once a lyrical ode to the rich, decaying romanticism of New Orleans and a powerful drama about lives haunted by the past. -- © Lions Gate Films [More]

Starring: John Travolta, Scarlett Johansson, Gabriel Macht, Deborah Kara Unger

Starring: John Travolta, Scarlett Johansson, Gabriel Macht, Deborah Kara Unger

Director: Shainee Gabel, Bob Yari

Director: Shainee Gabel
Screenwriter: Shainee Gabel
Producer: Brad Krevoy, Randall Emmett, George Furla
Director: Bob Yari
Producer: R. Paul Miller, David Lancaster
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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Release:

Apr 19, 2005

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Reviews for A Love Song for Bobby Long

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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The film's liabilities outweigh its assets.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Shirley Sealy
Film Journal International

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A Love Song for Bobby Long’s trio of lead performances are surprisingly believable.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
05/03/05
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

Mais um daqueles independentes norte-americanos cuja presunção de soar profundo logo revela sua verdadeira intenção: emocionar através do melodrama.

comment Comment
03/28/05
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Tries the patience of sober viewers, who are likely to envy the onscreen eccentrics their ever-present plastic cups of Abita...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
03/14/05
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

We should take it no more seriously than we would Bobby Long himself. Like the old professor, it talks such amusing nonsense.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
03/06/05
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The film shares many qualities with its rambling and at times honestly endearing characters: it's sloppy, decent-hearted and most often embarrassing.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | comment Comment
03/05/05
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

It's little more than a collection of cliches about the Deep South, alcoholism and the literary arts.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
02/18/05
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

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.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
02/18/05
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

This, incidentally, is one of the rare movies about authors in which the character’s writing actually seems good enough to be publishable.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
02/17/05
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
02/06/05
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

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.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
02/05/05
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

Delights as often as it dulls the senses.

Full Review Source: Movie Boeuf | comment Comment
02/02/05
David N. Butterworth
Movie Boeuf

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/01/05
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com

Traffics in nearly every trite cliche of the 'colorful' South one can think of.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/28/05
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sentimental but occasionally moving drama.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
01/28/05
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

Engaging and transparent at once.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/28/05
Carla Meyer
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An above-average independent movie that gives us an interesting version of a popular indie theme: difficult parents and the fallout for their neglected children.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
01/28/05
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

The movie's climactic plot twist seems inevitable from about 10 minutes in.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
01/28/05
Marc Mohan
Oregonian
 
 
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