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A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
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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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Reviews for A Love Song for Bobby Long
Traffics in nearly every trite cliche of the 'colorful' South one can think of.
Travolta's performance is idiosyncratic but not particularly appealing. He's hampered by an overbearing, sophomoric script and, worse, it's apparent that he doesn't believe in the character, not for one second.
And are we to believe that Pursy, in Scarlett Johansson form, sits around all day eating spoons of peanut butter dipped in M&Ms (apparently the definitive white trash treat)?
This film tries to be lyric and succeeds at times but it is not a classic like the books they reference... Their heart may be in it, but their song is slightly out of tune.
Bobby Long makes you want to reach for a classic New Orleans cure -- let's say, a Sazerac in a go-cup -- and drink yourself to sweet oblivion.
Better in sections than as a whole, and those sections don't arrive at a steady enough pace to undo its failings.
It's a self-conscious Southern Gothic, awash in literate eccentrics with stories to tell and songs to sing.
The best reason to see Love Song, a typical Southern tale, is Scarlett Johansson in yet another astonishing performance as a misfit with magical powers of redemption.
First-time director Shainee Gabel generally does a good job of moving things along, though the story feels disjointed at times.
So well-intentioned and heartfelt that it might have been a great film if only it were interesting.
Latest News for A Love Song for Bobby Long
January 06, 2005:
John Travolta and James Gandolfini Join Lonely Hearts
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