Quando o Amor Acontece

I actually liked this movie. Neither because of the slow development nor of the fair acting of Bullock/Connick Jr. The brilliant performance of Mae Whitman as Bernice made this whole movie worthwhile. I've never seen a child outperform her "co-stars" like that. She sure would deserve the Academy Award for best supporting actress. So if you want to see a slow love story with a very good child performance (German magazine "cinema" wrote: "...she has the potential of Oscar winning Kathy Bates ("Misery")...") this is yours. If you are a fan of high paced action movies, don't bother to see this, you wouldn't like it anyway.

I went into this movie last night expecting nothing but mush, and maybe a few laughs. Which I got. I did not expect the pure corny-ness of it. It was like it was following a set guideline for the cliche of this type of movie. Everything happened in the places you'd expect it to. People dying, people breaking up, bad things happening, lahdy dah, no surprises. It started off really well but when downhill from there and dragged. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it for what it was. Just don't be expecting anything more than mush. Powerful? Huh? Were we watching the same flick? Worth crying over? Hardly.

"Hope Floats" is too dramatic to be a romantic comedy. It's more of a character drama about Birdee (Sandra Bullock) moving back home and the main story line being a romance with Harry Connick Jr.

Birdee, and the film, are very down-to-earth. Although she lived in Chicago, she's much more suited to the small-town life that she grew up in in Texas. They don't go for much of the obvious comedy of big-city girl versus small-town country girl. And that's a good thing.

The young daughter can get annoying, and the romantic comedy angle is transparent from the beginning. But the natural drama that Birdee goes through in trying to rebuild her life after a public divorce is done well enough that it makes "Hope Floats" worth watching.

Birdie (Sandra Bullock) has just returned to her hometown in Texas. Once the belle of the city, homecoming queen, etc., Birdie is now licking the wounds of a painful marital separation. She has brought her young daughter Bernice with her and both of them are quite puzzled by life and what it may hold for their future. Fortunately, Birdie's mother welcomes them with open arms and lots of love. Then, too, Justin (Harry Connick, Jr.) is delighted that Birdie is back in town. Will the two distraught females, Birdie and Bernice, learn to look forward instead of dwelling on the past?

This slow, understated movie may be a difficult watch for the action film crowd. It is definitely a character study and, in that, it excels. Bullock gives an excellent portrayal as the prom queen who learns that life is not an endless picnic. She also looks utterly beautiful throughout the film. The young actress playing her daughter is also quite good as the troubled and confused child of a broken home. Rowlands and Connick, Jr. lend ample support. No, please don't look for car crashes or chase scenes. Instead bask in the film's simple pleasures, such as fishing on a quiet lake or dancing at a county fair. Those who like romance will be satisfied but the growth of the female characters is worth much more. Ladies, send the men off to the bowling alley and invite your friends over for a girlie get-together. This film is definitely one that women will enjoy while holding hands and celebrating the joys of ya-ya sisterhood.

Lensed by the great Caleb Deschanel, this buttery tale of love lost and hope found actually manages to rise above the excesses of its emotionally bombastic script. This is a weeper and the dirty tricks of the trade are apparent in all its manipulative confrontation, revelation and redemption scenes. Sweet like ice cream and sickening like a chocolate overdose, HOPE FLOATS is a delicious exercise in viewer survival.

The sun-dappled cinematography, though reliant on soft-focus, is beautiful like Romantic American oils. Shot in gorgeous earth tones, HOPE FLOATS is a stunning series of postcards, the better onto which graft the sickness of relationship disfunctions. The painterly still shot of the main character taking a photograph through a window still haunts me, as does the magnificent late sequence drenched in rain.

Thankfully for the viewer, the manichean script is brought to life with a breezy confidence by Forest Whitaker. This assured artist has worked with the likes of Jim Jarmush and Clint Eastwood, and it shows in his cool camera work and straightforward approach to material that is little better than the "reality talk shows" it twice decries. Himself an actor, the director pulled bravura performances out of his main cast.

For the real star of this show is the acting: from Harry Connick Jr's solid performance to the great Gena Rowlands spot-on delivery, it's all good. Mae Whitman devastates in her "money shot" and even the bit parts are interesting to watch. But with a glance, a crooked smile and a much improved body language, it is star Sandra Bullock who proves the real gem in a movie that sparkles with all the pretension of a jewellery store. The underplayed, devastating opening scene is worth a dozen scenery-chewing showpieces - and then some.

There is quite a bit of emotional baggage borrowed in PRACTICAL MAGIC here, but the underpinnings are far better. Fearless, engaged and precise, Bullock's performance is a virtuoso piece that makes watching HOPE FLOATS a real treat; I have never seen her more bold or more beautiful (even as a vamp in MISS CONGENIALITY) - she is absolutely gorgeous here.

Manipulation and honesty mixed in an effective, emotional pressure-cooker, HOPE FLOATS may just make you sick like a roller-coaster. But for anyone interested in Sandra Bullock, it is required viewing . ..