La vita a modo mio

Newman uses a lifetime of acting experience to give a burnished, affecting portrayal of Sully, a dysfunctional father and husband who is basically well-intentioned but has never been able to connect with anyone or live up to his responsibilities. His family arrives back in town and he begins the long-delayed process of reconnecting with his son and grandsons.

Like "Mr. & Mrs. Bridge" of a few years back, this is a low-key, slice-of-life drama, a type of film that can be deadly dull in the wrong hands but which in this case, under director Robert Benton's guidance, and aided by a fabulous script and wonderful cast, is totally engrossing.

The script is spare and lean and all the more effective for that. It never goes for heavy emotional effects, but makes its points in a powerfully understated way. The many moments of humor stand out in high relief. Excellent acting all around (this was one of Jessica Tandy's last films; also in the cast are Bruce Willis, a better actor than he is generally given credit for, and Melanie Griffith). The feeling of life in a down-at-the-heels northeast U.S. town in midwinter is superbly brought across; the movie has a real 'lived-in' atmosphere.

A definite A+.

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.

I have a theory that everyone remains a teenager until they day they die. Not the teenagers of the "Porky" franchise or the airheads of "Clueless" necessarily, but the mature, emotionally headstrong old souls of "The Breakfast Club" and "Flirting". Some grown-up teenagers are more jaded, considerate, and successful than others, while the remaining irresponsible hooligans look like adults but, in a "Shallow Hal"-ish twist, are actually fifteen- year-olds still in search of an identity. Look at those middle-aged men and women with graying hair taking your order at Wendy's: are they not a regretful little girl or boy who doesn't quite realize they're trapped in an adult's body?

Sully (Paul Newman) belongs in the camp of the charismatic loners who never took the time to accept their responsibilities and actually grow up. He has freelanced in the construction industry his entire life, most recently making the most of his aging body by suing Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis), the local contractor, to get extra pocket change. Years ago, Sully left his family at an important time, leaving his now grown son (Dylan Walsh) emotionally stunted, his ex-wife understandably jilted — why he did it is hard to explain. Commitment was never very attractive to him, and having a family hardly supplemented his lone wolf instincts. Part of his psyche is tarnished by guilt, but the other side reminds him, time and time again, that being a father, a husband, was never for him anyway.

Currently, Sully rooms with his former eighth grade teacher, the elderly Beryl Peoples (Jessica Tandy), and passes the time doing dirty work around town and flirting with Carl's long suffering wife (Melanie Griffith). This has been his routine for years, decades even. So when his son comes to town, his wife and kids in tow, Sully is forced, after years of ignoring his most personal problems, to decide whether or not he wants to make up for lost time and finally become the father his son deserved, or ignore the facts and continue living in his own form of sheltered reality.

Paul Newman, even when playing the bad guy (a rare case), has never done anything besides be likable. In "Cool Hand Luke", he was a should-have-been tarnished anti-hero; in "The Verdict", he was an alcoholic grouch who felt it necessary to punch Charlotte Rampling right in the kisser after she betrayed him. Fact is, even when portraying a man at his lowest point, Newman has always been the guy you want to be friends with, the guy who wish was your father, your uncle, your grandfather. There is something starkly humble, and believably all-around good, about him, on screen or off.

In "Nobody's Fool", he plays a hustler we should, in our good senses, despise. Every character trait that shapes Sully is negative; what good has he done in his life besides make friends with barflies and keep his former teacher company? But damn it all to hell: it's impossible not to root for anyone portrayed by Newman. The film finds him nearing seventy, on the last legs of his long career. But hardly aged is his ability to give a face for the everyman, and, yes, the man-children who weren't fantastic youths but, hesitant or not, want to make up for it. Does "Nobody's Fool" provide for one of Newman's greatest performances? It's hard to say: he doesn't have to stretch his abilities like he has had to in the past. What he does do, though, is remind us why he is the movie star Hollywood, I'm sorry to say, can hardly muster today.

Robert Benton, whose "The Late Show" has recently become a favorite of mine, writes and directs. A filmmaker who seems to specialize in the complexities of human relationships ("Kramer vs. Kramer", "Places of the Heart"), "Nobody's Fool" is masterful in its characterizations: near instantly, each character feels completely drawn, as if we have known them for years, as if we have heard all the town gossip that surrounds them. The knotty relationship between Sully and Toby Roebuck (Griffith) especially rings true — both are so fiercely independent that their flirting with one another comes less from a romantic place and more out of a desperate one. So unhappy are they that a mutual affection comforts their lonely ills. Romance, though? It requires too much commitment and dedication, and both have been too scorned by the past to do anything about their already shaky feelings.

The characters of "Nobody's Fool" are almost abominably flawed, but we find their scarred personas more soothing than bothersome. We feel like we know these people, as if we also live in North Bath and have nothing better to do besides confide in our neighbor. Benton and his actors bring a world of lonely hearts startlingly to life; as messed up as they are, we want to be lonely with them.

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.