Andrew Kendall of Encore's World of Film & TV takes on 2004's 'underwhelming' Love Song for Bobby Long, based on the novel Off Magazine Street by Ronald Everett Capps, starring John Travolta as a washed up literature professor. Something of a flop at the box-office, despite co-starring the in favour Scarlet Johansson, a Love Song for Bobby Long fared just as poorly with the critics yet Andrew believes it's not all that bad and it's certainly a movie worth your time.
Love Song for Bobby Long can easily be classified as good trash, and that’s for the most part what it’s been called. It performed underwhelming at the box office, mediocre to fair with the critics but… and this is a big but – it’s not a bad movie.
A Love Song for Bobby Long stars John Travolta and Scarlet Johansson. As an actor John Travolta falls into a specific group of actors including Nicolas Cage and George Clooney. Movie stars with rabid followers that have never impressed me with their acting abilities. To be honest Cage was good in Leaving Las Vegas, but he stole Sean Penn’s Oscar so I can acquiesce. A Love Song for Bobby Long is about a drifter of a man living in a somewhat derelict house somewhere in the south. When a death leaves a brash, young woman – Purslane (Johansson) to inherit a share in the home it leads to some interesting situations. Purslane and Bobby Long do not hit it off, and the latter’s protégé Lawson played by the capable Gabriel Macht must play mediator. As the film gets on his feet it becomes shockingly non sentimental as we try to get the background behind Bobby Long’s strange character. John Travolta does not have half of the charm required to play the role nor does he succeed with his ludicrous concoction of a Southern Accent, but we manage to care about his Bobby despite all these faults. But the highlight of the film is not him.
A Love Song for Bobby Long earned one major award nomination. A Golden Globe Best Actress nomination for Scarlett Johansson. Her name is not in the title but Purslane is the main character of the film. Her Purslane just may be akin to the typical angst ridden teenager girl trying to find her way, with a pot mouth. She does not reinvent the wheel in her acting style but she’s not supposed to. This is not a tour de force role in any way. The writing is not the strong point of the film. The actors particularly Johansson and Macht try their best and their chemistry is undeniably affecting.
There are two surprises in A Love Song for Bobby Long. One concerns the lease of the house the three live in and the other concerns Purslane’s parents. Both do not work as well as they’d like to, but the former comes off better. This is so because of the main actor’s dedication and because of the general believability of the situation, the second is not as lucky. Most of the audience probably saw it coming and it seems a bit cut and dry. And Johansson is not as strong in that pivotal scene as she is in the earlier and brassier parts of the film. Still it could have been worse.
A Love Song for Bobby Long suffers because it does not know what type of film it is. Is it a coming of age drama about a lost girl, a film about forbidden romance, a teacher/student buddy film or a sentimental family drama….and the list goes on. They don’t know, and we don’t know. But for the most part, we do care…and it’s worth your time. Especially if you’re a fan of Macht or Johansson.
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