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149 reviews in total

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65 out of 81 people found the following review useful:
I love this movie and think some of the comments are spiteful., 6 July 2004
Author: jlfisher96 from Grand Mound, Iowa

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. To those who are calling it boring, full of drivel, etc., you are entitled to your opinion, but please quit stating it as fact. Anyone who has been through an ugly, painful divorce, been dumped by someone they adored and trusted, or even just grew up in a smalltown can surely appreciate the feelings invoked by this movie. The characters, I felt, were much deeper than some of the other users noticed. Sandra Bullock's character had subjugated her life to her husband and daughter and then has to rebuild her identity and self-esteem when her husband leaves. As for the daughter being too smart-alecky, yes, in places she was. As for her speaking like a 40-year old, yes she did. However, I taught school for over thirty years and can guarantee that there are many eight-year-olds out there who talk this way. Also, the child was hurting and I can tell you from experience that when a child suffers as a result of divorce they will many times turn on the one person whom they know will never pull their love out from under them.

It's a movie that I felt had much more depth than many of these reviewers noted. I cannot understand the negativity in some of your reviews. It was a movie that made me feel good. I watched it so much that I wrote out the tape and am now working on the DVD.

There should be more movies like this one, in my opinion.

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46 out of 52 people found the following review useful:
A Better Film Than Most People Think!, 24 October 2004
Author: world_weary_soldier (world_weary_soldier@yahoo.co.nz) from Huntly, New Zealand

One of the things that truly irks me are some people's rapid willingness to typecast actors and actresses, and dump on them when they try something new. While it has to be said that Sandra Bullock does not avoid exploding buses, or have to hunt down any cryogenically frozen bad guys in this picture, "Hope Floats" is a better movie than most give it credit, and Ms. Bullock and the supporting cast put in fine performances of their own to make a very touching and poignant film.

Forest Whitaker (acting in such films as "Blown Away" and "Phenomenon" sits in the Director's chair on this one and crafts a tale that deals with many different emotional themes, carried earnestly by sensitive and character revealing performances from his leading lady and the supporting cast.

While it must be said that Ms. Bullock provides some very memorable scenes in this film (especially when drunk) the casting of Gena Rowlands, Harry Connick Jr, and Michael Pare provide more ballast with fine performances delivered from all.

But the highlight for me in this film - young Mae Whitman and her performance as Ms. Bullock's on-screen daughter. At the conclusion of one very moving scene near the end of the film I could only watch her and wonder at just how bright this young actress' future will be.

So, if blood, bombs and action is your scene, then "Hope Floats" may not be your scene, but if you are into drama with solidly acted and well crafted characters by very fine actors, then "Hope Floats" is for you. It will leave you very satisfied that you took the time to see this very finely made and acted film.

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45 out of 55 people found the following review useful:
I totally disagree. I think this is a great movie!, 5 July 2004
Author: jlfisher96 from Grand Mound, Iowa

Maybe it's because I had a cheating husband and went through an ugly divorce, or maybe it's because I've lived in small towns for most of my life. Whichever, I totally disagree with the comments that this movie is boring. I've watched it so many times that I wore out a tape and now have it on DVD. I could have written the speech that Sandra Bullock gives to Michael Pare when they are in the house after the funeral. I thought that all of the actors developed their characters beautifully and Sandra Bullock did a great job of portraying a woman who has had her identity and self-esteem shattered and must go about the huge task of rebuilding them both.

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33 out of 39 people found the following review useful:
A keeper, 15 July 2003
Author: madisongraves from Austin, TX

I'm surprised at the harsh reviews and low rating of this movie!

Unlike other so-called "chick flicks", this movie has an authentic appeal to it and a real heart. Sandra Bullock is a shamed and distraught mother returning to her hometown after being dejected by her husband on national television. She is the beauty queen turned humiliated housewife and her old neighbors don't hesitate to rub it in. Sandra's strong-willed and adorable daughter is played wonderfully by Mae West. Their dysfunctional relationship is a central plot element throughout the film. Sandra finds strength in her own mother and finds new romance with a strong, sensitive cowboy type played surprisingly well by Harry Conick Jr.

Sandra must come to terms with her changing identity and role as mother while her daughter fights for a false allusion of Sandra's husband. An impending divorce between Sandra and her husband and the struggles of Sandra's daughter and nephew, create many heartbreakingly touching moments and at last - an intriguing story with a sense of humor.

Living in Texas and having visited a few small towns, I can state that the movie's portrayal of small town life is a very realistic one which only adds to the films' effectiveness.

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21 out of 26 people found the following review useful:
I love this movie., 15 July 2005

Author: jlf2002us from United States

This movie touched me more personally than any other movie ever. The down home country feeling just screams America and what woman hasn't been in Birdie's shoes. Heck... what woman isn't looking for their Justin? This movie has it all... love and pain... laughter and tears. It's perfect. The beauty of the country along with the small town family atmosphere makes this pure. I know I also love the humor. Bernice is the best! She has heart and knows what she wants. The fact that she can tell Justin how it is impresses me and empowers me. The music is some of the most beautiful music I've heard and it just makes this experience all the more perfect for me! I love it and recommend it to any woman who has ever been hurt and survived. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to express my opinion.

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20 out of 27 people found the following review useful:
Exquisite smarm, 24 August 2002
Author: sirvincealot from Montreal, Quebec

Lensed by the great Caleb Deschanel, this buttery tale of love lost and hope found actually manages to rise above the excesses of its emotionally bombastic script. This is a weeper and the dirty tricks of the trade are apparent in all its manipulative confrontation, revelation and redemption scenes. Sweet like ice cream and sickening like a chocolate overdose, HOPE FLOATS is a delicious exercise in viewer survival.

The sun-dappled cinematography, though reliant on soft-focus, is beautiful like Romantic American oils. Shot in gorgeous earth tones, HOPE FLOATS is a stunning series of postcards, the better onto which graft the sickness of relationship disfunctions. The painterly still shot of the main character taking a photograph through a window still haunts me, as does the magnificent late sequence drenched in rain.

Thankfully for the viewer, the manichean script is brought to life with a breezy confidence by Forest Whitaker. This assured artist has worked with the likes of Jim Jarmush and Clint Eastwood, and it shows in his cool camera work and straightforward approach to material that is little better than the "reality talk shows" it twice decries. Himself an actor, the director pulled bravura performances out of his main cast.

For the real star of this show is the acting: from Harry Connick Jr's solid performance to the great Gena Rowlands spot-on delivery, it's all good. Mae Whitman devastates in her "money shot" and even the bit parts are interesting to watch. But with a glance, a crooked smile and a much improved body language, it is star Sandra Bullock who proves the real gem in a movie that sparkles with all the pretension of a jewellery store. The underplayed, devastating opening scene is worth a dozen scenery-chewing showpieces - and then some.

There is quite a bit of emotional baggage borrowed in PRACTICAL MAGIC here, but the underpinnings are far better. Fearless, engaged and precise, Bullock's performance is a virtuoso piece that makes watching HOPE FLOATS a real treat; I have never seen her more bold or more beautiful (even as a vamp in MISS CONGENIALITY) - she is absolutely gorgeous here.

Manipulation and honesty mixed in an effective, emotional pressure-cooker, HOPE FLOATS may just make you sick like a roller-coaster. But for anyone interested in Sandra Bullock, it is required viewing . ..

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8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Slow paced love story with excellent child performance, 15 February 1999

Author: Nick-19 from Cologne, Germany

I actually liked this movie. Neither because of the slow development nor of the fair acting of Bullock/Connick Jr. The brilliant performance of Mae Whitman as Bernice made this whole movie worthwhile. I've never seen a child outperform her "co-stars" like that. She sure would deserve the Academy Award for best supporting actress. So if you want to see a slow love story with a very good child performance (German magazine "cinema" wrote: "...she has the potential of Oscar winning Kathy Bates ("Misery")...") this is yours. If you are a fan of high paced action movies, don't bother to see this, you wouldn't like it anyway.

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5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Too dramatic to be a romantic comedy, and that saves the film, 8 October 2010

Author: napierslogs from Ontario, Canada

"Hope Floats" is too dramatic to be a romantic comedy. It's more of a character drama about Birdee (Sandra Bullock) moving back home and the main story line being a romance with Harry Connick Jr.

Birdee, and the film, are very down-to-earth. Although she lived in Chicago, she's much more suited to the small-town life that she grew up in in Texas. They don't go for much of the obvious comedy of big-city girl versus small-town country girl. And that's a good thing.

The young daughter can get annoying, and the romantic comedy angle is transparent from the beginning. But the natural drama that Birdee goes through in trying to rebuild her life after a public divorce is done well enough that it makes "Hope Floats" worth watching.

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11 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Just what you'd expect, 9 October 1998
Author: Narelle-2 from Melbourne, Australia

I went into this movie last night expecting nothing but mush, and maybe a few laughs. Which I got. I did not expect the pure corny-ness of it. It was like it was following a set guideline for the cliche of this type of movie. Everything happened in the places you'd expect it to. People dying, people breaking up, bad things happening, lahdy dah, no surprises. It started off really well but when downhill from there and dragged. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it for what it was. Just don't be expecting anything more than mush. Powerful? Huh? Were we watching the same flick? Worth crying over? Hardly.

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9 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
average drama, 15 September 2001
Author: mattkratz (themattk@hotmail.com) from Richardson, TX

This movie is a basic, down-to-earth drama. Sandra Bullock learns that her husband has been having an affair on an afternoon talk show, and she moves back home to Texas to start anew, and she finds new love while she's there. Not too bad, but it gets too slow and prodding at times, which is its only weakness. All in all, not too bad a movie. Just don't expect a classic, and you might like it.

** 1/2 out of ****

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