Nobody's Fool (1994)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Robert Benton

Writers (WGA):

Richard Russo (novel)
Robert Benton (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 January 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

In a town where nothing ever happens... everything is about to happen to Sully.

Plot:

Sully is a rascally ne'er-do-well approaching retirement age. While he is pressing a worker's compensation suit for a bad knee...

Plot Keywords:

Mother | Knee | One Legged Man | Snow | Stepfather

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Sully Sullivan
Jessica Tandy	...	Beryl Peoples
Bruce Willis	...	Carl Roebuck
Melanie Griffith	...	Toby Roebuck
Dylan Walsh	...	Peter Sullivan
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Rub Squeers
Gene Saks	...	Wirf Wirfley
Josef Sommer	...	Clive Peoples Jr.
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Officer Raymer
Philip Bosco	...	Judge Flatt
Catherine Dent	...	Charlotte Sullivan
Alexander Goodwin	...	Will Sullivan
Carl J. Matusovich	...	Wacker Sullivan (as Carl John Matusovich)
Jay Patterson	...	Jocko
Jerry Mayer	...	Ollie Quinn

MPAA:

Rated R for some language and nudity.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | Brazil:Livre | Iceland:L | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:13 | Finland:S | Germany:6 (bw) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #32826)

Filming Locations:

Beacon, New York, USA

Company:

Capella International

Trivia:

Bruce Willis' part only took 22 days to film.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Officer Raymer is punched in the face by Sully, he collapses to the ground against his car with his head in front of the Police seal on the door. When the camera pulls back, Raymer's head and body are positioned a good two feet to the left of the Police seal.

Quotes:

Sully: I should have known better than to hire a one-legged lawyer.
Wirf: You can't afford a two-legged lawyer.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 52nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1995) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town

newman's best

It's next to impossible not to like Paul Newman on screen, so it's a tremendous active achievement when he plays an unsympathetic character. Sully, his greatest role since "Hud," depicts Newman at his worst and thus at his best. Tom Hanks was remarkable in "Forrest Gump," but Newman deserved the 1994 Best Actor Oscar for "Nobody's Fool." The movie's greatness lies in the relationships between Newman and two other characters. Jessica Tandy is closer to Newman than her own son, played by Josef Sommer (who it's revealed is a white-collar crook and thus a bigger scoundrel than Sully, whom he despises). Likewise, Newman connects easier with co-worker Rub than with his own son, who can't see beyond his father's betrayal during a wayward youth. The reconciliation between Sully and Rub on a back porch may be the greatest of Newman's career ("Peter's my son. You're my best friend," Sully says in terms that even the slow-thinking Rub can grasp instantly). Robert Benton, who also directed the heartwarming "Places in the Heart," gives us an equally personal, but more disciplined work. He assembles A-list performers (Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith are magnetic on screen), gives them marvelous dialogue ("You're a man among men," Griffith tells Newman twice in the movie but with different meanings) and melts our hearts. But acting honors go to Newman, whose complex Sully becomes if not loving, then at least a responsible, functioning, vital member of the human race. And, in the end, nobody's fool.