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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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81 - 100 (sorted by date)
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In the first feature directed by Shainee Gabel, John Travolta delivers a hammed-up scenery-chewing variation of the brainy good ole boy he played in Primary Colors.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
12/29/04
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Endless and pretentious.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
12/29/04
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[Johansson] gives Pursy the combination of hope and determination that makes her journey worthwhile.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
12/29/04
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If there's something a little bit moldy about the setup, the movie is no less charming or involving for it, and it's no less pleasant to succumb to its wayward allure and wastrel lyricism.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
12/29/04
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of those stylized Southern writing deals that doesn't come off the least bit realistic, but can be mighty fine fun to just kick back and listen to.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
12/29/04
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

It's easy to fall for Bobby Long.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
12/29/04
E! Online

It must be said that the Hollywood Foreign Press, in this case anyway, was dead-on: the movie belongs to Scarlett Johansson.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
12/29/04
Brett Buckalew
Brett Buckalew
FilmStew.com

So well-intentioned and heartfelt that it might have been a great film if only it were interesting.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
12/28/04
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

Exasperating Southern-lit seminar.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
12/28/04
Ed Park
Ed Park
Village Voice

might be a story with greatest appeal to those who like their conflicts and issues soft, quiet, and unexplosive

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
12/27/04
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Filmcritic.com

Conjuring memories of my own student days in the bayou belt, I recall English professors on Southern campuses who were the spitting image of everything Mr. Travolta says and does in this film.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
12/23/04
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson make this tale of misfits thrown together an agreeable enough time-passer despite newcomer Shainee Gabel's flowery dialogue and pedestrian direction.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
12/23/04
David Rooney
David Rooney
Variety

Better in sections than as a whole, and those sections don't arrive at a steady enough pace to undo its failings.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
12/14/04
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

No great surprises in this story, including the fact that Scarlett Johansson is excellent as usual.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
12/13/04
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Shot well and looks pretty.

Full Review Source: Planet Sick-Boy | comment Comment
12/12/04
Jon Popick
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy

A Love Song For Bobby Long is a heart-affecting drama about an improvised family fashioned with love, care, and creativity by writer and director Shainee Gabel.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
12/12/04
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Scarlett gets a GED and Travolta plays an old drunk with a black toe.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
12/11/04
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

Moves as slowly as a Southern drawl, but features affecting performances by its three leads

Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | comment Comment
12/10/04
Scott Nash
Scott Nash
Three Movie Buffs

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

Click to read the article

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