A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG
Directed by: Shainee Gabel.
Produced by: Rob Yari, R. Paul Miller & David Lancaster.
Written by: Shainee Gabel, based on the novel, Off Magazine Street by Ronald Everett Capps.
Director of Photography: Elliot Davis.
Edited by: Lee Percy & Lisa Fruchtman.
Music by: Nathan Larson.
Released by: Lions Gate.
Country of Origin: USA. 119 min. Rated: R.
With: John Travolta, Scarlett Johansson, Gabriel Macht & Deborah Kara Unger.

A Love Song for Bobby Long opens with a barely recognizable John Travolta preparing to leave a bar in the middle of a sunny New Orleans afternoon. Gray-haired, hunched over, and carrying a bottle of alcohol in a brown bag, this is not the swaggering or presidential Travolta we're used to seeing. Men drinking themselves to an impending death is nothing new (see Leaving Las Vegas, Happy Hour, etc.), and Travolta is the latest to step into the shoes of a character who's been ravaged not only by alcohol, but also by a defeated spirit.

A former literature professor, Bobby has been living a somewhat reclusive life with his thirty-something protégé, Lawson Pines (Gabriel Macht), in the dilapidated home of Lorraine, where they're almost always drunk. However when Lorraine passes away, her prodigal daughter, 18-year-old Pursy (Scarlett Johansson), shows up to reclaim her childhood home. Since Bobby and Lawson really have nowhere else to go, they keep secret the lawyers' letters notifying Pursy she is the rightful and sole owner of the house. Instead, they tell her Lorraine gave them the right to live there. Pursy angrily refuses to leave the house; the three reluctantly agree to live under the same roof.

Set in the mythic South, characters spend their days singing by the river or lounging about reading literature. One has to ask how Bobby and Lawson get by with no income. And for men so well-read and sharp-witted - even after all they've consumed - it is surprising that Bobby and Lawson, unlike the audience, don't see a revelation coming. But a stunning Scarlett Johansson completely holds her own here against Travolta’s showy performance. Hers is a subtle and heartfelt performance. This is a coming of age tale both for the actress and her character. Tanya Chesterfield
December 29, 2004