Very much a film by, with and for the ladies perhaps and superficially is a romantic story; under the surface `Hope Floats' examines some of the difficulties of human relationships, above all between Birdie Pruitt and her husband and new-found love back in her home town, on the one side, and between Bernice and her parents and her new school-mates, on the other.
After recklessly driving a bus with the insufferable Keanu Reeves doing the superman thing, and the very misfired `Gun Shy' (2000) (qv), among others, one might be forgiven for saying that I was about to give up the ghost as far as Sandra Bullock was concerned.
However, as luck turned out, in `Hope Floats', as well as being one of the producers together with a whole fleet of ladies, Sandra Bullock turns in quite an acceptable performance. Totally apart from the fact that Sandra Bullock is most certainly very acceptable to look at, whatever she may be trying to do. In this case, with a very understanding Forest Whitaker (bravo! a man among the crowd!) at the helm, Ms. Bullock did not simply try to make an interesting little film, but actually succeeded.
The film starts off the worse possible way in one of those ridiculous reality TV chat shows, where poor Birdee finds out her husband is having an affair with her best friend. She takes off with her cute little daughter and turns up back home in li'l ol' Texas.
Mae Whitman as Bernice offers an incredible performance here, in great part due to good chemistry between her and Ms. Bullock; only a couple of times did her rôle seem a little forced and only very briefly, as for the most part her natural interpretation is surprisingly successful. The selected songs mostly chime in well with the proceedings, and of course Dave Grusin has long known how to manage this kind of thing.
`Hope Floats' achieves what it set out to be: a simple story with the right mix of drama and a little romance, without purporting to being anything greater. On those terms the average viewer will find this film entertaining and even instructive especially the ladies. Just do not expect anything more marvellous than that.
After recklessly driving a bus with the insufferable Keanu Reeves doing the superman thing, and the very misfired `Gun Shy' (2000) (qv), among others, one might be forgiven for saying that I was about to give up the ghost as far as Sandra Bullock was concerned.
However, as luck turned out, in `Hope Floats', as well as being one of the producers together with a whole fleet of ladies, Sandra Bullock turns in quite an acceptable performance. Totally apart from the fact that Sandra Bullock is most certainly very acceptable to look at, whatever she may be trying to do. In this case, with a very understanding Forest Whitaker (bravo! a man among the crowd!) at the helm, Ms. Bullock did not simply try to make an interesting little film, but actually succeeded.
The film starts off the worse possible way in one of those ridiculous reality TV chat shows, where poor Birdee finds out her husband is having an affair with her best friend. She takes off with her cute little daughter and turns up back home in li'l ol' Texas.
Mae Whitman as Bernice offers an incredible performance here, in great part due to good chemistry between her and Ms. Bullock; only a couple of times did her rôle seem a little forced and only very briefly, as for the most part her natural interpretation is surprisingly successful. The selected songs mostly chime in well with the proceedings, and of course Dave Grusin has long known how to manage this kind of thing.
`Hope Floats' achieves what it set out to be: a simple story with the right mix of drama and a little romance, without purporting to being anything greater. On those terms the average viewer will find this film entertaining and even instructive especially the ladies. Just do not expect anything more marvellous than that.