''A Love Song for Bobby Long'' is a 2004 American
psychological drama
Psychological drama or psychodrama is a sub-genre of drama that places emphasis on psychological elements. It often overlaps with other genres such as crime, fantasy, black comedy, and science fiction, and it is closely related with the psychologic ...
film directed and written by Shainee Gabel, based on the novel ''Off Magazine Street'' by Ronald Everett Capps. It stars
John Travolta as the title character, an aging alcoholic, and
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...
as a headstrong young woman who returns to
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
after her estranged mother's death.
The film had its world premiere at the
61st Venice International Film Festival
The 61st annual Venice International Film Festival was held between 1 and 11 September 2004. The festival opened with Steven Spielberg's ''The Terminal'', and closed with Katsuhiro Otomo's '' Steamboy''. The Golden Lion was awarded to the fi ...
on September 2, 2004. It began a
limited release in the United States on December 29, 2004, followed by a
wide release In the American motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across the country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical r ...
on January 21, 2005, by
Lions Gate Films
Lionsgate Films (formerly known as Cinépix Film Properties) is an American film production and film distribution studio, headquartered in Santa Monica and founded in Canada, and is the flagship division of Lionsgate Entertainment. It is the lar ...
. Johansson received her third
Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance.
Plot
After her mother Lorraine, a jazz singer whom she felt neglected her for her career, dies from a drug overdose, 18-year-old Purslane “Pursy” Hominy Will leaves a
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
trailer park
A trailer park,caravan park, mobile home park, mobile home community or manufactured home community is a temporary or permanent area for mobile homes and travel trailers. Advantages include low cost compared to other housing, and quick and ea ...
, where she lives with an abusive boyfriend, to return to her hometown of
, after having dropped out of high school and left the city.
She is surprised to find strangers living in her mother's dilapidated home: Bobby Long, a former professor of literature at
Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...
, and his protégé and former teaching assistant, Lawson Pines, a struggling writer. Both heavy drinkers and smokers, they pass time quoting poets, playing chess, and spending time with the neighbors; Long also sings country-folk songs. The two convince Pursy that her mother left the house to all three of them. More exactly, the truth is that Pursy is the sole heir, and her mother's will limits how long the other two can stay in the house.
Pursy moves in, acting as the most responsible member of the evolving
dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such ...
. The men's efforts to drive her away decline as they grow more fond of her. Bobby - slovenly and suffering from ailments he prefers to ignore - tries to improve Pursy by introducing her to the novel ''
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
''The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940) is the debut novel by the American author Carson McCullers; she was 23 at the time of publication. It is about a deaf man named John Singer and the people he encounters in a 1930s mill town in the US state ...
''; he also encourages her to return to high school and get her degree. Lawson is attracted to her but hesitates to become involved. The three have memories of Lorraine, especially Pursy, who feels that her mother ignored her to pursue her jazz career. When she finds a cache of letters her mother wrote to her but never mailed, Pursy learns more about how Lorraine felt about her, and the identity of her biological father.
Cast
*
John Travolta as Bobby Long
*
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...
as Purslan "Pursy" Hominy Will
*
Gabriel Macht
Gabriel Swann Macht (born January 22, 1972) is an American actor and film producer, known for portraying Harvey Specter in the USA Network series '' Suits'' (2011–2019) and the title character in the 2008 superhero film ''The Spirit''.
Earl ...
as Lawson Pines
*
Deborah Kara Unger
Deborah Kara Unger (born 12 May 1966) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' Highlander III: The Sorcerer'' (1994), ''Crash'' (1996), '' The Game'' (1997), '' Payback'' (1999), '' The Hurricane'' (1999), ''White Noise ...
as Georgianna
*
Clayne Crawford
Joseph Crawford (born April 20, 1978), known professionally as Clayne Crawford, is an American actor. He is known for portraying the role of Martin Riggs on the Fox action comedy-drama television series ''Lethal Weapon'' (2016–2018). He also ...
as Lee
*
Sonny Shroyer
Otis Burt "Sonny" Shroyer Jr. (born August 28, 1935) is an American actor and singer who has appeared in various television and movie roles. He is known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Enos Strate in the television series ''The Dukes of Hazzard''. ...
as Earl
*
Carol Sutton Carol Sutton may refer to:
* Carol Sutton (actress)
* Carol Sutton (journalist)
* Carol Sutton (artist)
Carol Lorraine Sutton (born September 3, 1945) is a multidisciplinary artist born in Norfolk, Virginia, USA and now living in Toronto, Ontari ...
as Ruthie
*
Warren Kole
Warren David Blosjo Jr. (born September 23, 1977) known professionally as Warren Kole, is an American actor known for his role as LAPD Detective Wes Mitchell on the USA Network original series ''Common Law''. He also played Roderick on the FOX ...
as Sean (as Warren Blosjo)
*
Nick Loren
Nick Loren (born December 14, 1970) is an American actor, Emmy nominated television host, singer-songwriter, producer, and professional stunt double. He has been the professional stunt double for John Travolta and an accredited actor in over 2 ...
as Merchant
Production
According to the film credits, it was shot on location in New Orleans and
Gretna, Louisiana
Gretna is the second-largest city in, and parish seat of, Jefferson Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
"Gretna, Louisiana (LA) Detailed Profile" (notes),
''City Data'', 2007, webpage:
C-Gretna
"Census 2000 Data for the State of Lou ...
.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack includes "Someday" by
Los Lobos, "Bone" by
Thalia Zedek
Thalia Zedek (born 1961) is an American singer and guitarist. Active since the early 1980s, she has been a member of several notable alternative rock groups, including Live Skull and Uzi both of which, according to ''Spin'' magazine, "made big ...
, "Lonesome Blues" by
Lonnie Pitchford, "Different Stars" and "Lie in the Sound" by
Trespassers William
Trespassers William was an American indie rock band formed in 1997 from Orange County, California. The band released three albums from 1997 to 2006, relocating to the SoDo/Capitol Hill area of Seattle, Washington before their third album ''Having ...
, "All I Ask is Your Love" by
Helen Humes
Helen Humes (June 23, 1913 – September 9, 1981) was an American singer. Humes was a teenage blues singer, a vocalist with Count Basie's band, a saucy R&B diva, and a mature interpreter of the classic popular song.
Early life
She was born on ...
, "Rising Son" by
Big Bill Morganfield
William "Big Bill" Morganfield (born June 19, 1956) is an American blues singer and guitarist, who is the son of legendary McKinley Morganfield, also known as Muddy Waters.
Biography
Morganfield was born in Chicago, Illinois. He had little cont ...
, "Praying Ground Blues" by
Lightnin' Hopkins
Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...
, and "Blonde on Blonde" by
Nada Surf
Nada Surf is a New York City-based American alternative rock band formed in the 1990s, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals).
History ...
.
John Travolta sings two tracks—"
Barbara Allen" and “
I Really Don’t Want to Know". The title track, "A Love Song For Bobby Long," is by
Grayson Capps
Grayson Capps (born April 17, 1967 in Opelika, Alabama, United States) is an American Americana and blues rock singer-songwriter.
Early life
Capps was born in Opelika, Alabama, to parents who were students at Auburn University. He was raise ...
, the son of Ronald Everett Capps. The senior Capps wrote the novel that was adapted for the film.
Release
The film premiered at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
in September 2004. In order to qualify for
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
consideration, it opened on eight screens in New York City and Los Angeles on December 29, 2004, earning $28,243 on its opening weekend. It played in 24 theaters in the US at its widest release. It eventually grossed $164,308 domestically and $1,676,952 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $1,841,260.
Critical reception
Stephen Holden of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote "
dawdles along aimlessly for nearly two hours before coming up with a final revelation that is no surprise." He felt John Travolta was playing "a hammed-up, scenery-chewing variation of the brainy good ol' boy he played in ''
Primary Colors
A set of primary colors or primary colours (see spelling differences) consists of colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a br ...
''," and thought Gabriel Macht's "understated performance" was "the deepest and subtlest of the three."
Roger Ebert of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'' wrote "What can be said is that the three actors inhabit this material with ease and gratitude: It is good to act on a simmer sometimes, instead of at a fast boil. It's unusual to find an American movie that takes its time. It's remarkable to listen to dialogue that assumes the audience is well-read. It is refreshing to hear literate conversation. These are modest pleasures, but real enough."
Carina Chocano of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote that the film
is, deep-down, a redemptive makeover story drenched in alcohol, Southern literature
Southern United States literature consists of American literature written about the Southern United States or by writers from the region. Literature written about the American South first began during the colonial era, and developed significan ...
and the damp romanticism of the bohemian lush life in New Orleans. A lovely noble rot pervades the film in much the same way that it does the city, a longtime repository of lost-cause romanticism. If there's something a little bit moldy about the setup (drunken literary types, hope on the doorstep, healing from beyond the grave), 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. Among other things, the characters . . . really know how to turn a phrase, in itself a pleasure so rare it all but demands any flaws be forgiven.
Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' rated the film two out of four stars, calling it "an elegant mess." He added "The actors labor to perform a rescue operation...It's the stunning location photography of camera ace
Elliot Davis that provides what the movie itself lacks: authenticity."
Awards and nominations
DVD release
The DVD was released in
anamorphic widescreen format on April 19, 2005.
It has audio tracks and subtitles in English, French, and Portuguese. Bonus features include commentary with screenwriter/director Shainee Gabel and cinematographer
Elliot Davis, deleted scenes, and ''Behind the Scenes of A Love Song for Bobby Long'' with cast and crew interviews.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love Song for Bobby Long, A
2004 films
2004 drama films
2000s English-language films
2000s psychological drama films
American psychological drama films
Films about alcoholism
Films about writers
Films based on American novels
Films set in New Orleans
Films shot in New Orleans
Destination Films films
Lionsgate films
Southern Gothic films
2000s American films