Nobody's Fool - Auf Dauer unwiderstehlich

What a gem! Apparently this film did have a theatrical run, but I had never heard of it until I saw it on cable a few years ago. Paul Newman was, as always, masterful. So was Jessica Tandy. As unlikeable as Bruce Willis is, he is a great actor and does very well here. And even though it was a fairly small part, I think this is Melanie Griffith's best work ever. The script, directing, everything came together seamlessly. I highly rcommend this film. Grade: A

Paul Newman is "Nobody's Fool" in this 1994 film also starring Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Dylan Walsh and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Newman magnificently portrays Sully, a 60-year-old man living in a small town in upstate New York. He has a bad knee; he's suing his boss, the hard living Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis) for back wages; he flirts with the boss' wife Toby (Melanie Griffith); he rents from his old school teacher Beryl Peoples (Jessica Tandy) who depends on him; he plays poker and drinks at the local bar; and he plays the Trifecta every day. When his son Peter (Dylan Walsh) comes to town, Sully has to come face to face with the man he abandoned as a child, as well as his ex-wife. (The scene where he sneaks out of her house as everyone screams at each other is a riot.) He gets to know his little grandson, bonding with him as he never did the boy's father. Sully, who in his own way has been taking care of a lot of people in town - and driving some other ones crazy - learns the importance of a family connection and what it entails.

A marvelous script, a marvelous cast, great direction by Robert Benton - "Nobody's Fool" is a small movie with a big message about life. Newman portrays Sully with all of his complexities. He's more a son to Beryl than her own son. He takes care of his workmate Grub (Pruitt Taylor Vance) as he never did his own son. He is there for Toby as she talks about Carl's infidelities, but he was never there for his own wife. What's most wonderful about the script is how character-driven it is and how all its messages come out of the characters. The audience is not beaten over the head with them. When Sully speaks bitterly about his late father, he turns to Peter and says, "That's what you'll say about me when I'm gone." "You were gone, dad," Peter says. "I've already said it." Yet the two men try, without ever verbalizing that they are trying. He's there for Tandy, without a sentimental scene.

Tandy is excellent as a woman who fears the loss of her independence, and fans of Nip/Tuck will get a kick out of seeing Dylan Walsh as he was 14 years ago with his mop of hair. He does very well in his role. Bruce Willis is amazing - relaxed, funny, cheating with a smile. Philip Seymour Hoffman, before stardom hit, has a hilarious role as a policeman trying to nail Sully and not having much luck.

You can't really call what Newman does acting because you won't catch him doing it - he just IS Sully. He creates an unforgettable character in this must-see film.

Paul Newman's (Oscar-nominated) amazing performance as a small-town man who tries to bring his somewhat meaningless life together is a real triumph in this fine motion picture from director Robert Benton. Newman is exploited throughout by boss Bruce Willis, but takes it all in stride as he flirts with Willis' beautiful wife (Melanie Griffith). When son Dylan Walsh and his family moves back to town, Newman must finally come to terms with his family and take responsibilities that he has ignored for the duration of his life. Jessica Tandy shines in her swan song. A really great homage to Newman, one of Hollywood's very best from any era. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

It's next to impossible not to like Paul Newman on screen, so it's a tremendous active achievement when he plays an unsympathetic character. Sully, his greatest role since "Hud," depicts Newman at his worst and thus at his best. Tom Hanks was remarkable in "Forrest Gump," but Newman deserved the 1994 Best Actor Oscar for "Nobody's Fool." The movie's greatness lies in the relationships between Newman and two other characters. Jessica Tandy is closer to Newman than her own son, played by Josef Sommer (who it's revealed is a white-collar crook and thus a bigger scoundrel than Sully, whom he despises). Likewise, Newman connects easier with co-worker Rub than with his own son, who can't see beyond his father's betrayal during a wayward youth. The reconciliation between Sully and Rub on a back porch may be the greatest of Newman's career ("Peter's my son. You're my best friend," Sully says in terms that even the slow-thinking Rub can grasp instantly). Robert Benton, who also directed the heartwarming "Places in the Heart," gives us an equally personal, but more disciplined work. He assembles A-list performers (Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith are magnetic on screen), gives them marvelous dialogue ("You're a man among men," Griffith tells Newman twice in the movie but with different meanings) and melts our hearts. But acting honors go to Newman, whose complex Sully becomes if not loving, then at least a responsible, functioning, vital member of the human race. And, in the end, nobody's fool.

Newman is acting just perfectly in this small town movie in his role as a 60 years old man who has not achieved much in his life, but begins to realize this when his son, whom he hasn't seen since he left his family, shows up with his kids, Newman's grandsons. The complicated (or maybe not so complicated) married life of Willis and Griffith add to the plot. Some quite witty scenes and lines make you laugh heartily, although the film's general tone is more on the serious side.