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Nobody's Fool
Paramount // R // September 9, 2003
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Despite not finding much of an audience upon its release in 1994, "Nobody's Fool" eventually found a much-deserved following once it hit the small screen. This masterfully constructed character piece contains superb performances all around, wonderfully touching moments of humor and emotion and stellar writing.
Newman (in an Oscar-nominated performance) plays Sully,a construction worker who finds himself living in the upstairs apartment of the house of his 8th-grade teacher (Jessica Tandy). He finds temp work with the owner of the local construction company, Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis); when not working for him, he flirts with his wife (Melanie Griffith, at her best). Sully lives a life of repetition - getting in trouble, getting drunk and getting the occasional job - until his son, Peter (Dylan Walsh), enters the picture, with a grandchild in tow.
Peter and his wife are having trouble and require a place to stay. Peter lets them into his life, which offers him a chance to make amends with his son, who he walked out on when he was a young child. Obviously, this sounds like a somber, familiar drama, but Robert Benton's film (based upon the novel by Richard Russo) is so wonderfully involving for a few reasons. Firstly, the film's characters are well-realized and extremely well-played by an all-star cast. Secondly, the film's dry wit is so sharp and well-spaced throughout the picture that some of it is utterly hilarious, such as a little bit of business between Roebuck and Sully where they must think of new ways to steal Roebuck's new snow blower. Scenes between a local police officer (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, in an early performance) and Sully are also wonderfully well-played. Beyond that, there's simply a series of wonderful lines scattered through every scene, such as one reply when Tandy tells Newman to hurry up: "I am hurrying, it just looks like slow motion."
One of the reasons the film as a whole works as well as it does is Newman's performance. The interplay between Newman and Willis, Newman and Griffith and Newman and Tandy is simply delightful. Willis and Newman trade insults superbly in their scenes, each delivering their well-written and snappy dialogue in perfectly throwaway fashion. Newman and Griffth have a wonderfully sweet chemistry with one another, and there's a hope underlying each of their characters that they will eventually reach the dreams they hope to see, or have seen. Newman's performance is one of his greats, as he effortlessly becomes this character; it's not acting, it's almost as if Newman is simply being. It's a fantastic performance to watch, both in terms of comedy and drama.
It's a pleasure to see this film again after several years. "Nobody's Fool" is really one of the great, unseen films of the 90's. A terrific cast offers first-rate performances, the film's writing expertly moves between well-earned tears and brilliant humor. Some of the dialogue still remains classic. A terrific film that's only getting better as the years pass.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Nobody's Fool" is presented by Paramount in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen by Paramount. John Bailey's cinematography is very low-key and realistic, often using natural light and colors. The presentation may not may without some minor flaws, but it does show off the film's look appropriately. Sharpness and detail are generally quite good; the picture appears well-defined throughout most of the scenes, with mostly solid shadow detail.
Still, while definition was pleasing, there were some issues to be noted. Light instances of edge enhancement appeared in a couple of scenes, as did some slight specks on the print used. No compression artifacts or other issues appeared. Colors were subdued and, given the snowy surroundings, accurate to the look of the picture.
SOUND: The Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation is understandably mellow, with only Howard Shore's score coming from the surrounds. Audio quality is perfectly fine, as the score remained crisp and full, while dialogue remained clean and natural-sounding.
EXTRAS: Unfortunately, nothing.
Final Thoughts: A wonderful, timeless film that offers several award-worthy performances, "Nobody's Fool" is definitely a must-see. Paramount's DVD doesn't offer much in the way of supplements, but delivers fine audio/video quality. Highly recommended.
Despite not finding much of an audience upon its release in 1994, "Nobody's Fool" eventually found a much-deserved following once it hit the small screen. This masterfully constructed character piece contains superb performances all around, wonderfully touching moments of humor and emotion and stellar writing.
Newman (in an Oscar-nominated performance) plays Sully,a construction worker who finds himself living in the upstairs apartment of the house of his 8th-grade teacher (Jessica Tandy). He finds temp work with the owner of the local construction company, Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis); when not working for him, he flirts with his wife (Melanie Griffith, at her best). Sully lives a life of repetition - getting in trouble, getting drunk and getting the occasional job - until his son, Peter (Dylan Walsh), enters the picture, with a grandchild in tow.
Peter and his wife are having trouble and require a place to stay. Peter lets them into his life, which offers him a chance to make amends with his son, who he walked out on when he was a young child. Obviously, this sounds like a somber, familiar drama, but Robert Benton's film (based upon the novel by Richard Russo) is so wonderfully involving for a few reasons. Firstly, the film's characters are well-realized and extremely well-played by an all-star cast. Secondly, the film's dry wit is so sharp and well-spaced throughout the picture that some of it is utterly hilarious, such as a little bit of business between Roebuck and Sully where they must think of new ways to steal Roebuck's new snow blower. Scenes between a local police officer (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, in an early performance) and Sully are also wonderfully well-played. Beyond that, there's simply a series of wonderful lines scattered through every scene, such as one reply when Tandy tells Newman to hurry up: "I am hurrying, it just looks like slow motion."
One of the reasons the film as a whole works as well as it does is Newman's performance. The interplay between Newman and Willis, Newman and Griffith and Newman and Tandy is simply delightful. Willis and Newman trade insults superbly in their scenes, each delivering their well-written and snappy dialogue in perfectly throwaway fashion. Newman and Griffth have a wonderfully sweet chemistry with one another, and there's a hope underlying each of their characters that they will eventually reach the dreams they hope to see, or have seen. Newman's performance is one of his greats, as he effortlessly becomes this character; it's not acting, it's almost as if Newman is simply being. It's a fantastic performance to watch, both in terms of comedy and drama.
It's a pleasure to see this film again after several years. "Nobody's Fool" is really one of the great, unseen films of the 90's. A terrific cast offers first-rate performances, the film's writing expertly moves between well-earned tears and brilliant humor. Some of the dialogue still remains classic. A terrific film that's only getting better as the years pass.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Nobody's Fool" is presented by Paramount in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen by Paramount. John Bailey's cinematography is very low-key and realistic, often using natural light and colors. The presentation may not may without some minor flaws, but it does show off the film's look appropriately. Sharpness and detail are generally quite good; the picture appears well-defined throughout most of the scenes, with mostly solid shadow detail.
Still, while definition was pleasing, there were some issues to be noted. Light instances of edge enhancement appeared in a couple of scenes, as did some slight specks on the print used. No compression artifacts or other issues appeared. Colors were subdued and, given the snowy surroundings, accurate to the look of the picture.
SOUND: The Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation is understandably mellow, with only Howard Shore's score coming from the surrounds. Audio quality is perfectly fine, as the score remained crisp and full, while dialogue remained clean and natural-sounding.
EXTRAS: Unfortunately, nothing.
Final Thoughts: A wonderful, timeless film that offers several award-worthy performances, "Nobody's Fool" is definitely a must-see. Paramount's DVD doesn't offer much in the way of supplements, but delivers fine audio/video quality. Highly recommended.
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