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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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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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Poor John Travolta acts his award-craving heart out, practically begging for acclaim.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
12/31/04
Marcy Dermansky
Marcy Dermansky
About.com

Saturated with fertile colors and great regional rock and blues, the unhurried atmosphere seems as intoxicated as its characters.

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
11/30/04
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

A Love Song for Bobby Long is all beginning and middle; the ending is missing.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
01/17/05
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

Goes down smoothly but leaves you with only greasy fingers and a bitter aftertaste.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
01/26/05
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

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.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
01/27/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

It's a self-conscious Southern Gothic, awash in literate eccentrics with stories to tell and songs to sing.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
01/27/05
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

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

my vote for the most unassuming, unexpectedly breathtaking film of the year with Oscar caliber performances all around

Full Review Source: Bangitout.com | comment Comment
01/14/05
Jordan Hiller
Jordan Hiller
Bangitout.com

A Love Song for Bobby Long works hard to give quirk a bad name.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
01/28/05
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
01/30/05
Boston Phoenix

A wonderfully literary film.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
01/15/05
Annlee Ellingson
Annlee Ellingson
Boxoffice Magazine

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
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Stars a miscast John Travolta

Full Review Source: Catholic Sun | comment Comment
01/05/05
Fr. Chris Carpenter
Fr. Chris Carpenter
Catholic Sun

It's remarkable to listen to dialogue that assumes the audience is well-read.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/28/05
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a film that feels lived in, confident despite its conventions.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
01/27/05
Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder
Chicago Tribune

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
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
11/29/04
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

When A Love Song for Bobby Long concentrates on moving its plot forward, it aims too wide and clumsily lays bare all its secrets and twists.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
01/28/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

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
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
 
 
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