HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Nobody's Fool'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Robert Benton, based on the 1993 novel of the same name by Richard Russo. It stars
Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...
, Bruce Willis, Jessica Tandy and Melanie Griffith, as well as Dylan Walsh, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gene Saks, Josef Sommer, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Philip Bosco. It was Paramount's final production under its Paramount Communications ownership (being sold to the original Viacom in July 1994). For his performance, Newman received nominations for the
Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading ...
and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role as well as for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, in addition to a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Benton at the 67th Academy Awards. It was the final film featuring Jessica Tandy, who died on September 11, 1994, before the film was released.


Plot

Donald "Sully" Sullivan is a stubborn old reprobate living in the peaceful, snowy northern New York state village of North Bath. He freelances in the construction business, usually with his dim-witted friend Rub by his side. He is often at odds with Carl Roebuck, a local contractor, suing him at every opportunity for unpaid wages and disability. Sully's one-legged lawyer Wirf is inept, and his lawsuits are repeatedly dismissed. As a way to irritate him, Sully openly flirts with Carl's wife Toby at every opportunity (which she enjoys). He is a regular at the Iron Horse Saloon, where he often has drinks and plays cards with Wirf, Carl, Rub, Jocko the town pharmacist, and Ollie Quinn, the town's Chief of Police. A running joke is the repeated theft of Carl's snowblower. Sully steals it to get back at Carl for his latest failed lawsuit. Carl steals it back, placing it in the yard at his construction business guarded by his doberman pinscher guard dog. Sully, after drugging the dog, steals it a second time. Carl takes it back a final time, and leaves the dog, who is now skittish due to his drugging, at Sully's childhood home for him to find. Sully is a tenant in the home of the elderly Miss Beryl, his 8th grade teacher, whose banker son Clive strongly urges her to kick him out and sell the house. Family complications of his own develop for Sully with a visit from Peter, his estranged son who is a jobless professor at odds with his wife. While he and Sully reconstruct their relationship, Sully begins a new one with young grandson, Will. Peter's sudden everyday presence does not sit well with Rub, who quits working with Sully. Meanwhile, Clive is on the verge of a lucrative deal to build an amusement park in North Bath. However, the deal unexpectedly falls through when the promoter turns out to be a con man, and Clive quietly skips town in shame since he used his bank's resources to help finance the amusement park. After being jailed for punching a police officer who has been hassling him, Sully's luck seems to be all bad. His regular horse racing trifecta wins, but because he had been jailed, he had missed making the bet. But his son and grandson start to warm up to him, and he rebuilds his relationship with Rub. Then Toby leaves Carl, mostly due to his constant womanizing, and invites Sully to run away with her to Hawaii. Sully accepts, then realizes he cannot leave his grandson and politely declines. Miss Beryl, as a gift, pays the back taxes on Sully's long-abandoned family home. His son gives him a winning ticket for the missing trifecta, which he had bet in his father's absence. In the end, Sully decides to remain in North Bath because of his family obligations.


Cast


Production

The setting for both the book and film, the fictional North Bath, New York, is based on the real Village of Ballston Spa, New York, in
Saratoga County, New York Saratoga County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, and is the fastest-growing county in Upstate New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the county's population was enumerated at 235,509, ...
, just east of Gloversville, where Russo grew up. The real Ballston Spa was overshadowed by neighboring Saratoga Springs, just as North Bath was eclipsed by the fictional Schuyler Springs. ''Nobody's Fool'' was filmed in the
Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...
city of Beacon, which was paid a $40,000 location fee for services and inconveniences. Production began in November 1993 and concluded in February 1994. The Iron Horse Bar, located on N. 7th Street in Hudson, NY, is now the Governor's Tavern; and the Diner is now The Grazin' Diner on Warren Street, just around the corner in Hudson. Bruce Willis reportedly agreed to a substantial pay cut to appear in the film, accepting the SAG-AFTRA scale of $1,400 per week at a time when the actor was earning roughly $15 million for his action movies, since Willis was very eager to star alongside
Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...
. Fearing that Willis' fame as action star could lead people into the film with false expectations, the film wasn't advertised with him and his name does not appear in the opening credits, only in the closing credits.


Reception


Box office

''Nobody's Fool'' was given a limited release on December 23, 1994, earning $92,838 in six theaters. The film was given a wide release on January 13, 1995, earning $7,142,691 over its opening weekend in 792 theaters. The film ultimately grossed $39,491,975 in the US and Canada.


Critical response

''Nobody's Fool'' was well received by film critics.
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
gave the film 3 ½ out of 4 stars in his '' Movie Guide'': "An irresistibly appealing Newman is surrounded by wonderful actors in this charmingly unpredictable character study..." Todd McCarthy of '' Variety'' wrote: "''Nobody's Fool'' is a gentle, flavorsome story of a loose-knit, dysfunctional family whose members essentially include every glimpsed citizen of a small New York town. Fronted by a splendid performance from Paul Newman as a spirited man who has made nothing of his life, Robert Benton's character-driven film is sprinkled with small pleasures; the dramatic developments here don't take place in the noisy, calamitous manner that is customary these days. Desson Howe of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' similarly remarked: "''Nobody's Fool'' is so eloquently straightforward, it practically sings to the soul. A story about very real people caught in the everyday woes and worries of a small Upstate New York town, it shows the kind of character traits, tics and from-the-heart chatter you wish there was more of in the movies.
Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for '' The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has contributed to ...
of '' The Chicago Reader'' also wrote: "This is the first Robert Benton movie I've really liked — and possibly my favorite Paul Newman performance since '' The Hustler''. Conceived somewhat in the spirit of Chekhov's stories, ''Nobody's Fool'' ambles along semiplotlessly, focusing on the petty love-hatreds that link people together in small towns and the everyday orneriness that keeps them alive...it has both the poetry and the authenticity of failure." Paul Newman was particularly praised by critics. Caryn James of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' described the star's performance as "the single best of this year and among the finest he has ever given".
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' wrote: "I have been watching Paul Newman in movies all of my life. He is so much a part of the landscape of modern American film that sometimes he is almost invisible: He does what he does with simplicity, grace and a minimum of fuss, and so I wonder if people even realize what a fine actor he is. The film maintains a 91% rating on the review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
based on reviews from 55 critics. The site's consensus states: "It's solidly directed by Robert Benton and stacked with fine performances from an impressive cast, but above all, ''Nobody's Fool'' is a showcase for some of Paul Newman's best late-period work." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
the film has a score of 86 out of 100 based on reviews from 28 critics.


Accolades


Year-end lists

* 3rd – John Hurley, '' Staten Island Advance'' * 5th – Michael MacCambridge, ''
Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The distribution of the following ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', '' ...
'' * 7th – National Board of Review * 10th – Janet Maslin, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' * Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Jimmy Fowler, '' Dallas Observer'' * Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Bob Ross, ''
The Tampa Tribune ''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area. The newspaper also published a ''St. P ...
'' * "The second 10" (not ranked) – Sean P. Means, '' The Salt Lake Tribune'' * Honorable mention – Glenn Lovell, ''
San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
'' * Honorable mention – Jeff Simon, ''
The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, th ...
''


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nobody's Fool 1994 films 1990s English-language films 1994 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films Beacon, New York Films based on American novels Films directed by Robert Benton Films set in New York (state) Films shot in New York (state) Paramount Pictures films Films scored by Howard Shore Films produced by Scott Rudin Films with screenplays by Robert Benton 1990s American films English-language comedy-drama films Films shot in the Hudson Valley