A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)

Location: Home (DVD)
Seen Before: No
Rating: 2.5

I've teetered between a 2.5 and a 3.0 for Bobby Long, but, in all honesty, the 3.0 would simply be out of pity.

The best parts of this film are Johansson, Gabriel Macht (my dude from Sebastian Cole) and the locations; otherwise, it all feels pretty forced and unauthentic. Travolta's Bobby Long is absolutely unlikeable for the first two-thirds of the film and, call me unforgiving, but if I've disliked him that long I'm going to continue to. Sure, I understand that characters are always changing as films progress, but this was just handled poorly. Royal Tenenbaum, Billy Brown, Humbert Humbert, and Phil Conners are all essentially pricks, but the filmmakers backing them knew how to present them to the audience. This fellow behind Bobby Long hasn't got such a tight handle on things. And another Travolta gripe: was he just gunning for that Academy nomination or what? I've always liked him, but give Tarantino a call or something, man.

I could feel A Love Song for Bobby Long trying so hard to pull at my heartstrings and, in my book, when you try with such a blatant lack of subtlety, you fail.