Nobody's Fool (1995)

"Worn to perfection" is the tag line promoting this crafted character study. It describes Paul Newman, the resourceful 70-year-old lead actor, but not his character, Sully, a North Bath, New York, loner who totally emulates the negative definition of the title. Newman gives a brilliant performance (Oscar-nominated and winner of two critics circle awards) relying on his well-honed subtleties. The dramatics are simple: the return of his son (Dylan Walsh) and grandson, offering a chance to reconcile; odd jobs for a construction company he's trying to sue for an injury; and a comedic grudge match against the owner (a reserved Bruce Willis). North Bath is the kind of place, wrapped in winter (beautifully shot by John Bailey), where enemies are friends, marriages are shaky, and Hawaii is only a state of mind. This "town drama" of a blue-collar America offers the patient filmgoer a rich and rewarding experience. Another small gem from writer-director Robert Benton (Places in the Heart). --Doug Thomas Amazon.com essential video

Less is more

This is a gentle, small movie about small-town living and its citizens, particularly a blatantly unapologetic ne'er-do-well named Sully (Paul Newman) who has lived his life exactly as he wants to and manages, by optimism and the bonding in this town, to survive quite well in spite of himself.

Sully has co-existed with his former eighth-grade teacher for apparent decades (the great Jessica Tandy, in her next-to-last performance), living in an upstairs apartment and doing - when he remembers to - odd jobs for her as well as keeping an eye on her. He is constantly at odds with her stuffy bank-manager son (Josef Sommer) who wants Sully out of his mother's house; Sully is also at mild odds with several other people in town, including his ex-wife, and an uncredited performance by Bruce Willis as Carl Roebuck, a local construction-site manager who is frittering away the family fortune on trips with floozy office assistants. The cast is stuffed with excellent actors and performances, at a time when some of them were just becoming known; Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a local policeman who makes Barney Fife look competent, and Melanie Griffith, as Carl Roebuck's exasperated wife, plays an excellent foil to Sully, who banters with her as he steals her husband's snowblower with her tacit consent.

The film meanders amiably along through the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, as Sully deals with various small crises in his life and amongst the citizens of the town. There is a comfortableness about this movie that makes you want to just sit back and enjoy it; nothing momentous happens, just the normal give-and-take of a town this size, where everybody knows everybody and even the most hopeless members of the community are given plenty of slack (Sully is let out of jail to be a pallbearer at one point)and the clear affection amongst most of the community comes through plainly.

I absolutely love this little classic, and I believe it deserves to be on the shelf alongside everyone's favourite holiday movies; since it spans both Thanksgiving and Christmas, it could fit either. The tolerance and humour shown throughout the film feels as welcome as an old and well-loved article of clothing, and the fine filming is enhanced by an underplayed and sweet score by Howard Shore. August 27, 2008

One of Paul Newman's last great roles

This is one of my favorite dramas. The entire cast shines and this arguably the best work you've seen from Melanie Griffith and Bruce Willis. A young Philip Seymour Hoffman is a treat and Jessica Tandy's final role makes this a must see.

I like Richard Russo's books. I'm fond of "Mohawk" and "Empire Falls." However, this movie manages to be as good as the book without being a direct translation. Paul Newman makes all the difference.

Newman won only one Oscar, Best Actor for his role in "The Color of Money" in 1986. I believe his work in 1994 was better with "Nobody's Fool" and "The Hudsucker Proxy." July 28, 2008

Newman at his finest, Tandy is wonderful.

Absolutely the best. Newman hit his peak in his acting career with this movie, he has gotten better as his career advanced but this one is perfect. Jessica Tandy, oh what a lady and actress she was--this movie is definitely one to own and watch over and over. Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith give outstanding performances. Newman's talent should have been recognized in this movie at least with an Oscar nomination but alas, he's missed several Oscars that should have decorated his mantle--The Verdict being one and Nobody's Fool his crowning achievement. He has perfectly captured the walk and "hobble" of a 60 year-old with a knee injury and arthritis. He and Jessica Tandy play off each other like best friends, she has an undying respect and appreciation for Sully (Newman) and he loves her and cares for her with such tenderness--best acting ever from these two in Nobody's Fool. There is such tenderness in the heart of Sully, Newman does a superb job showing the complexities of this true character in the town and of this film--he has never been better, ever. June 19, 2008

One of the finest films ever

Both the original novel and the screenplay was writte4n by Pullitzer Prize winner "Richard Russo" (Empire Falls, Bridge of Sighs)so that well defined characters, a superb plot and a realistic setting began on paper. From that point, the finest performers out there were placed into the hands of master director and writer, Robert Benton to create this brilliant film. In a forgotten upstate New York town, Sully (Newman) is approaching retirement in a life that was based on labor that has left him with a destroyed knee, destroyed marriage and an estranged relationship with his son. He rents a room from an old woman who lives alone in a large house that used to be the Grand Dame of the town in years past. The house and street, like the woman herself (played remarkably by Jessica Tandy in her final acting performance)have become worn out, sagging along the roof lines and a street sprinkled with large trees in various stages of dying; a metaphor that isn't lost on anyone. Outstanding performances by Bruce Willis, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Melanie Griffith, and Josef Sommers are just a few of the performances that create a world into which we become lost for a period of 108 minutes. Benton and cinematographer John Bailey have captured the gray bleak winter of upstate New York and both this ambiance and the town itself (like the Street mentioned before) become a character entity all on it's own.
Paul Newman was nominated and won multiple acting awards for this role and many would say that the role suited him, thinking that this is how acting works, but instead, Newman was given a rare opportunity in Hollywood: the chance to perform a character that was so well defined and so flawlessly written and directed that an Oscar nod was guaranteed at the first table read.(It is interested that Newman would later play a supporting role in Russo's next film, "Empire Falls" for HBO Films). An actor of Newman's quality combined with all of the elements attached to this film create a vehicle for Newman that allows him to stand out along with a cast whose awarded hardware would more than fill the back of a pick-up truck. If you've seen the film only one or if you've not seen the film, it's time to rent or buy it. I decided that owning this film was the way to go because it gives more each time. As a portion of the script says:

Peter: It's not gonna be easy being you, is it?
Sully: Don't expect much from yourself in the beginning. I couldn't do everything at first, either.

thank you to the one time production company who managed to create magic for all history during the winter of 1993 whi8le filming and growing close in an experience that must have been beyond remarkable because the result, an outsiders look really, is a film that is only allowed a rating as high as five stars or superior excellence, when in fact there is no room to comment on how this motion picture will touch your heart, connect to your own life and change you for ever. June 1, 2008

Paul

Paul Newman is the best! This movie is so entertaining I watch it at least twice a year! April 1, 2008

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