A Love Song for Bobby Long [DVD]

Having spent most of my life living in and around New Orleans, this movie always takes me back to what it felt like living there. The dilapidated, but weirdly beautiful architecture, the oak and cypress trees, cemeteries, the walks on the levees, the laid back lifestyle, the music, the alcoholism, the debauchery are all captured perfectly in this movie. Very much a comfort film and one that always makes me want to move home.

Of all of the films John Travolta has made, this one is probably the best. I cried after watching it and I have watched it three times thus far. Highly recommended, have the Kleenex ready.

What if you could tell the story of the people who are overlooked every day without notice, people who are simply living both the tragedy and grandeur of their own lives? A Love Song for Bobby Long is a film concerned with stories and how they look on the inside while they are being lived, unromantic but still deeply meaningful. It is a movie about love and loss, redemption and guilt, forgiveness and second chances, but it keeps such victories on a small, intimate scale.In terms of a simple run-down, hardened teenager Purslane Will learns of her absentee mother’s death and relocates to New Orleans to inherit her mother’s house. Hers is the story of a forgotten child equally angry with her elusive mother and desperate for some connection to her. Her initial venture to New Orleans is meant to be temporary, but she is ultimately pulled into the lives of the friends her mother left behind. What I personally find evocative about the equally tough and bighearted Percy is how easy it is to see her cynicism is not her natural state; it’s a learned defense against years of disappointment. Scarlett Johansson keeps Percy guarded and poised, but glimmers of hope and yearning break through and it’s impossible to not want her to find peace and direction.Equally engaging are the two alcoholic men with whom Percy shares her mother’s house: embattled and broken literature professor Bobby Long who is a manic pendulum swing from boyish exuberance to feral self-destruction in all its nastiness, and the softer spoken Lawson, Long’s ex teaching assistant. Both men grapple with each other and with the burden of an unspeakable past, and while initially they perceive Percy’s entrance as a disruption of their lives, they come to rely on her as maybe their last chance of salvation possible.In a smaller film like this (and by small I mean intimate), location is everything. The New Orleans of A Love Song for Bobby Long breathes and sweats and pulses. The “siren of a city” is captured by the sizzling sound of cicadas and by the smoky, gritty zydeco jazz clubs. It’s an impossibly wide blue sky and the husky rasp of a street musician’s voice. No film I’ve seen has ever felt like the south as much as this one does, and in doing so director Shainee Gabel captures the romanticism refugees Bobby and Lawson had been searching for. Equally gorgeous is the music, again bringing to life the sound of NOLA and Bourbon Street.I’ve seen complaints that the film is clichéd (there are certain plot points that are telegraphed fairly early, but to be fair they still feel natural and as realistic as the rest of the movie) and overly sentimental, but I wouldn’t in good faith say the movie doesn’t earn its emotional moments. As a viewer you want the characters to find a sense of closure and justice, whatever it might be, and while the film ends on a generally happy note, it isn’t saccharine or convenient.Ultimately this is one of my favorite films that is pretty much on constant replay during the long summer months. I don’t often recommend it when asked about my favorite movies, and I don’t know why, other than I like that it feels like a secret. Like its own small world to disappear into, where the people feel sad and scarred and brutally real, and where it’s never really too late because we know God and God knows us.

I love this movie, so clever, nonsensical and human. Every actor's character shined as flawed and worth loving. A good slice of life- not that life is always good. But to be eccentric is to bring magic to all situations- good or bad.

One of my favorite movies never get tried of watching it great actors 👏 👌 won't be Disappointment

This is a fantastic movie. I imagine it flopped at the box office; I'm not sure, but, I think it is genius. Especially if you like love, New Orleans, music, you're all set! Add John Travolta and "what's her name" Johanson on the list; what more can you ask for? Great turn of events with a twist. My family does not like it, they think it is a sad story. I think it is a great story for any one you know who may drink toooooooo much!!!! Buy a copy today for only $5.00 you won't go wrong. Some of Scarlett's best acting is in this movie, as well as "Lost in Translation", with Bill Murray filmed in Japan. There you have it, two movies starring big time before she went big time ....... they're Golden. If you like Robert Redford, maybe you should also look up "The Horse Whisperer" also Starring S. J.. She was probably 11 or 12. Great movie,bye!

This movie is wonderful. The bad language could be taken out and it would have been better. The reason for the 4 Stars is that there are no special features on the DVD. I purchased this DVD years ago and it stopped working. I was hoping this replacement was the same but it did not have the Special Features I enjoyed on the other DVD.

This sleeper is one of my all time favorite movies. It is a very moving story and John Travolta & Scarlet Johansen are terrific in it. I highly recommend this movie.