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 or someone desperate to forge some kind of career
using the written word, I must confess that literature has never been my
strong suit. In fact, if not for a teacher's cajoling (re: it was a required
book report in 10th grade) I would never have read an entire
novel from start to finish. Of course, once I got my fill of "The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", I immediately jumped ship, discovering
that the Western styling of Louis L'amour and the wild spy adventures of
Robert Ludlum were more to my liking. And while college forced a temporary
return to the Old Masters, by then I had become too enamored with mainstream
fiction to ever indulge in long Sunday afternoons reading the likes of
"The Old Man and the Sea" ever again.
"A Love Song for Bobby
Long" is one of those movies, like Wong Kar-Wai's films, that remind me
of my cultural shortcomings. In the movie, disgraced English professor Bobby
Long (John Travolta) has a game he plays with his former teaching assistant
(now roommate) Lawson Pines (Gabriel Macht), whereby Bobby quotes a famous
author, and Lawson names the writer. Needless to say, I couldn't match any
of the quotes with their writers; such is the sad state of my deficient
literary education. No one is more disgraced by it than I.
In that same way, "Bobby Long" works
because it's high-minded, while at the same time remaining grounded -- at
least, for most of its almost 2-hour running time. Travolta, with dyed
white hair, a noticeable limp, and a charming Southern accent, is barely
recognizable from his movie star persona, playing a one-time respected
professor well past his prime, with an ex-wife somewhere in Alabama and
kids he hasn't seen in years. Bobby Long would be someone to despise if he
wasn't so helpless. Then again, he has a steel-trap mind, and knows
exactly where to needle in order to get the reaction he wants.
"Bobby Long" opens with the offscreen death
of Pursy Will's mother in New Orleans. Pursy (Scarlett Johansson), a high
school drop out who has been estranged from her mother for years now,
returns home for the burial. She arrives a day late, and finds Bobby and
Lawson, a budding novelist who has made himself Bobby's unofficial
caretaker, living in her mother's house. The two men claim they own
two-thirds of the house (with Pursy holding the other third), but of
course it's a lie. They're squatters, having lived off the generosity of
Pursy's mother before her passing. Towards this end, Bobby hatches a plan
to get Pursy to move out instead of them.
First-time writer/director Shainee Gabel doesn't do
everything well, and perhaps the Third Act is a bit rushed, and the
denouement too simplistic and "happily ever after"-ish, ruining
much of the realness the film had developed up to that point. Still, Gabel
elicits an excellent performance from headliner Travolta, and she excels
in scenes without dialogue. A long walk by Bobby Long to open the film,
and another long walk by Pursy to close things out, makes for an inspired
bookending to a movie that oftentimes feels like a play stretched
unnecessarily out into a movie.
Much of the film revolves around characters sitting
around talking, which makes the cast important, and here Gabel has chosen
her players well. There is no one in "Bobby Long" who doesn't do
a fine job, including Deborah Kara Unger as the bar owner who pines for
Lawson. There is a nice scene between Unger's Georgianna and Macht's
Lawson in the rain on Christmas night. The scene plays without dialogue,
leaving everything that needs to be said, that has to be said, that
neither one has the courage to say, take place between an exchange of
looks. It's one of the film's best scenes, made all the more memorable
because the script requires good actors, and in a movie dominated by two
big-name stars, two relatively unknowns get a brief moment to shine.
Besides Travolta, the other big name is Scarlett
Johansson, who has been the best teen actor for a few years now, although
she's since turned 20 in 2004. Johansson has been wonderful when the role
asks her to show an old soul inhabiting a young body, with "Lost
in Translation" being the ultimate coming out party for her
mature persona. Here, Johansson is once again asked to play a young woman
wise beyond her years, and once again she does beautifully in the role.
After films like "Bobby Long" and "Translation", you
have to wonder how Johansson can convince herself to go back to clichéd
teen roles ever again.
And then there's Gabriel Macht, who I have always
liked, even when he was wasted in junk supporting roles in throwaway films
like "Bad
Company" and "The
Recruit". Even so, I'm not sure if "A Love Song for Bobby
Long" is the step up I had hoped for Macht. Working across Scarlett
Johansson, who actually seems to glow in a lot of scenes (I'm not sure if
it's the lighting, or if she's just naturally glowy) and a John Travolta
in full scenery chewing mode, Macht is mostly lost in the middle. He has
his moments, such as the scene with Unger in the rain, but his character
remains, from beginning to end, the least interesting of the three.
"A Love Song for Bobby Long", like all
those dead writers Bobby quotes endlessly throughout the movie, has much
to say about life and how the journey is important, but so is the
realization that all journeys must lead back to the beginning. It's a very
good movie, with great performances from Travolta and Johansson, and sure
supporting work from Macht and Unger. Alas, the script is perhaps a bit
too predictable, and a shocking revelation toward the end simply too
Hollywood for a movie that seems to want to trumpet itself as an
"outsider" product. Nevertheless, you can't discount that
"Bobby Long" has to be the best work Travolta has done in ages,
and it continues a winning streak by the still very young Scarlett
Johansson.
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