Uma Canção de Amor para Bobby Long

This may be one of john travolta's finest acting roles. The critic reviews were lukewarm, and it seems the movie wasn't released in many theaters for people to see, which is a shame. This is a gem of a film. It takes place in new orleans and follows the lives of three unlikely roommates. Two drunken men living in a dilapidated house of a dead woman, and the woman's estranged only daughter who comes to claim her inheritance-a third of the house. With no place to go, the three stay together under the same roof and a friendship somehow grows, like grass through a sidewalk crack. Well acted, and well directed, there are times the pace of the film seems to slacken but it doesn't take away from the story being told. All in all, one of my favorite films no one saw this year.

Reviews for "A Love Song for Bobby Long" are falling in the range from terrible to fantastic. My vote is closer to the fantastic end. The movie gets off to a slow start, but starts to work about a quarter into the film. The story unfolds at a slow pace; fitting for its locale. The character development for the three main characters (Travolta, Johansson and Macht) is well-woven into the story. Each character is flawed and through a series of events overcomes their problem. That to me is interesting movie-making. No storyline or subplot was left hanging at the end. Maybe I was tired, but I didn't see the end of the movie coming in the first five minutes as one comment stated. This movie is worth your time.

In Florida, the teenager Purslane Hominy Will (Scarlett Johansson) is lately informed by her mate that her mother passed away. She returns to her hometown, New Orleans, for the funeral and decided to live in her mother's house. However, she finds that the completely decayed house has two drunken dwellers: the former English professor Bobby Long (John Travolta) and his former assistant Lawson Pines (Gabriel Macht), who has unsuccessfully been trying to write a book about the life of Bobby Long for nine years. She decides to share the place living together with them and after their initial difficult relationship, they disclose deep secrets and improve their lives.

"A Love Song for Bobby Long" is a bitter tale of love, friendship and synergy of invisible people. With many citations of important writers, the dramatic story has excellent lines and is very positive, with good messages and a well resolved conclusion. The irregular John Travolta and always perfect Scarlett Johansson are splendid in the role of broken, suffered and hopeless characters, and the story is never corny. The music score with typical blues, songs and bands from New Orleans completes this surprisingly good movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Canção de Amor Para Bobby Long" ("A Love Song for Bobby Long")

This is a movie about two alcoholics. One middle-aged and the other on his way to that age. It's difficult to say which company they prefer, the bottle or each other.

Than the young girl arrives and shakes their world. You've seen that theme many times in movie history, but this is for once done in a very intelligent way. Gabriel Macht is very good and Scarlett Johansson, the greatest talent of her young generation, too. But Travolta is probably doing the part of his life so far. Travolta is now a character actor, if anyone is.

American movies don't always tell about these kind of losers in such a sympathetic way. But this one does. The end is sentimental, but never mind. The ride towards that is really worth seeing.

If you like movies that are character driven, then this is one for you to watch.

I have never seen Scarlett Johanssen in anything before. I have to say she impressed me here with her performance as Pursalane Hominy Will (ain't that a mouthful of a name!). Travolta does a nice turn as the titular Bobby Long, a former English professor who has fallen into the depths of an alcohol induced fantasy life. Gabriel Macht also does a good job as Lawson Pines, Bobby Long's former teaching assistant who has accompanied Long into his descent out of a sense of loyalty and guilt.

Perhaps the most interesting character, to me, is the one you never see, Lorraine Will; a New Orleans diva and the mother of young Pursey. Lorraine's death from alcoholism is what brings our characters together, and much like Alex in The Big Chill, we never once see or hear from Lorraine (not even in voice-over when Pursey reads a letter never sent to her by Lorraine), but we experience her through the people in this movie. It is a brave choice for the director to make, as I believe others would opt for more direct exposition via flashback, voice-overs, etc.

In the end, while there is a certain formulaic approach to the story, the characters are done well enough that you enjoy the story anyway.