Hope Floats
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Movie Reviews of Hope Floats
Movie Review: ROMANTIC MOVIE
Summary: 5 Stars
LOVED THIS MOVIE. I CAN WATCH IT OVER AND OVER. VERY ROMANTIC STORY.Movie Review: A Charmingly Bad Movie
Summary: 4 Stars
I really shouldn't like this movie but I do. However, I gave it four stars SOLELY because of the acting and soundtrack. Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr. were fantastic to watch and the music was a delight to listen to if you like pop-country. If the director had casted any other actors for the roles, it definitely would have flopped. Bullock and Connick have such an irrisistable charm about them that you can't help but love to watch them act.
On the other hand, albeit a wonderful actress, Bullock's daughter in this movie was so irritating and unlikeable she spoiled the magic of the moment for me every time she appeared on screen. I cringed when she opened her mouth. I could see why her father didn't want her (just kidding...not really). If I had been like her growing up my father would have driven off leaving me on the side of a road too. The only redeeming aspect of the daughter's role was to show how difficult a divorce is on a child and how a mother's love will get them through. In spite of unfairly being bombarded with insults and rejection (annoyingly throughout the ENTIRE movie) from her daughter, we saw a mother who will love and support her child no matter what. Sorry fathers, the movie didn't portray you very well.
On another sour note, this movie lacked direction, character development, continuity, and any kind of substantial plot to follow. Viewers are just along for the ride without one scene having much to do with another. Characters and scenes were thrown together with no rhyme or reason--seemingly, just to move the movie along to the end. I found myself saying, "Huh?" a lot to aspects of the story that just didn't make sense. Perhaps I blinked and missed something that provided a rational explanation.
There aren't enough bad things to say about this movie. It is supposed to be a love story but all we see of the true romance is in the few remaining minutes of the movie. Forget this being a "love" story; it is more like a "reject" story: Husband rejects wife. Daughter rejects mother. Father rejects daughter. Woman rejects man. Town rejects man. Town rejects woman. Daughter rejects man. Mother rejects son, etc.... With all this rejecting going on it's no wonder that the actual love part doesn't come out until the very end.
Director, Forrest Whitaker, ought to be ashamed of himself for dropping the ball on this one. Although to be fair, I now understand that the studio pulled support during production and several key scenes weren't filmed. After Bullock put in her own money to get the film finished, they shot a make-shift ending and edited together the footage they had already filmed. Unfortunately, knowing why a movie is a mess doesn't make it any easier to watch.
In spite of itself, this movie is as charming as it is horrifically directed and edited. For some reason (i.e., Bullock and Connick) it works. I have watched this movie many times over and never tire of it. You'll enjoy it too if you can suspend the movie critic within you and overlook the glaringly obvious megaholes in the storyline. Just sit back and enjoy the sweet simplicity of this movie. It's a 155-minute bumby ride but the 2-minute heartfelt emotional ending will definitely leave you emotionally fulfilled.
Movie Review: You CAN Go Home Again.....
Summary: 4 Stars
This review refers to the 20th Century Fox DVD edition of "Hope Floats".....
Forest Whitaker gives us a nice taste of his behind the camera talents with his direction of this touching and romantic feel good film. He has assembled a terrific cast including the charming Sandra Bullock,the irresistable Harry Connick Jr.,and the always wonderful Gena Rowlands. Add to that a story that will touch you with it's character's strength, humor and loving bonds of family by Steven Rogers, a soundtrack you'll want to hear over and over and terrific photogrpahy and you've got yourself a great recipe for a delightful movie break.
Birdie Pruitt(Bullock)was the sweetheart of her hometown, Smithville, Texas. She had it all..beauty queen, cheerleader,married to her high school sweetheart,a daughter who is the apple of her eye, and living the good life now in Chicago. But Birdie's perfect life is about to unravel. After appearing on one of those afternoon talk shows for what she thinks will be a make-over, she is hit with the awful truth that her best friend and husband are having an affair.
Devasted, humiliated on national T.V., and feeling all is lost, she packs up herself and her daughter and beats a retreat back to Smithville. The road back to self-esteem is a long one for Birdie, as she shuts herself off from life and love and must deal with readjusting to a new life.
Sandra Bullock will warm your heart as she learns to open hers again. Harry Connick Jr. will keep you smiling, as the childhood friend who has always loved her, and tries to breakdown Birdie's walls. And Gena Rowlands is perfect as the mother who won't let her child give up. Bernice, Birdie's young daughter is played brillantly by the young Mae Whitman and will evoke a lump in your throat as the child of divorce. Lots of great music including songs by Sheryl Crow, Bryan Adams and a beautiful rendition of "Smile" by Charles Chaplin, added to a moving score by Dave Grusin,are all just the right touches to this heartwarming story.
The DVD is an excellent presentation. The picture in widescreen(1.85:1)is very good with nice colors.The Sound in Dolby Dig 5.1 surrounds the room nicely.It may be viewed in French(stereo) and has subtitles in English and Spanish for those needing them. There are no other special features though.
If you're in need of a little pick-me-up, this is the film to do it. A feel good movie that's romantic, poignant and humorous, will leave you appreciating all that you already have, and with a smile as well.
enjoy.....Laurie
also recommended:
Diamonds
Meet Joe Black
Movie Review: Very nice romantic drama.
Summary: 4 Stars
I origionaly didn't want to watch this film I mean come on a film starring Sandra Bullock but it was my girlfriend who suggested that I watch this film and said that I might like it and now I admit it was pretty good. Sandra Bullock plays a woman named Birdee Pruitt who believes to be happy with a perfect life until she appears on national television and hears her best friend confessing to an affair with her husband. She then leaves her married home and travels to her birth place in Texas where she begins to rebuild her life and relationships especialy with her mother and young daughter who hates Birdee. I was surprised that the film didn't have any cliche Hollywood moments and it dealt with human emotions and was realistic, Birdee has to overcome the humiliation and public betrayal she obviously has a lot of problems but soon Harry Connick jr.'s character comes along to hopefully win Birdee's heart since they knew each other from Highschool. The film was very uplifting and in a way it is a serious romantic drama with a bit of humor so I enjoyed this film alot and I didn't hesitate the fact that I like Sandy in these roles and everybody else gave a great performance and I hope that she stars in more films like this instead of those awful comedies, I highly recomend this film.Movie Review: inbetween
Summary: 4 Stars
Sandra Bullock turns in a textured, nuanced performance in this bittersweet tale of loss, closure, and new beginnings. After learning in a brutal fashion that her husband and her best friend have become lovers, Bullock returns to her small hometown in Texas, son in tow. She "goes home to Mother", re-instating a relationship that is close but with its share of the usual troubles and flaws. She finds that her high school boyfriend still retains strong feelings for her. Slowly, she learns to trust again, as the two draw close. The movie is saved from mediocrity by the strong performances of the three major characters who are able to convey feelings beyond what is spoken. That said, I have taken from this movie a marvelous set of words in the following quotation:
"Beginnings are scary, and endings are generally sad, but it's what happens in the middle that matters."