A Love Song for Bobby Long

It’s been a long time since the name John Travolta has generated much excitement. And after bearing witness to his overacting in The Punisher this past summer, I was about ready to give up on him altogether. However, Shainee Gabel’s feature debut A Love Song For Bobby Long marks the umpteenth comeback for Travolta. It’s a modest one, but a comeback simply because it’s watchable Travolta that doesn’t reek of a paycheck grab.

Travolta plays Bobby Long, a southern drunk who used to be an inspirational teacher of words before his drinking took over. His days are spent lounging on the porch smoking and swapping literary quotes with Lawson Pines (Gabriel Macht), a one-time student and the proverbial son Bobby never had. Together they are the embodiment of underachievement and wasted life.

The film begins at the funeral of Bobby’s debatable soul mate, Lorraine. Although Bobby and Lawson live in her house, Lorraine included her estranged daughter Percy (Scarlett Johansson) in her will. A young free spirit, Percy moves in and the three new roomies have their squats and spats to create what some might call drama.

Bobby Long is a slow and meandering film that doesn’t have much new to say, but it also has strong, well defined lead characters and a distinctive look to it that make it a film worth watching. After failing worse than the kid who showed up to class for the first time on the day of the final exam with a string of action films, Travolta aims for something different. While Bobby is a pompous character, Travolta still seems to try to overshadow the rest of the cast by going over the top in the most curious of situations. When quoting the likes of Dickens, his voice raises and the syllables slow to a pace that would make William Shatner proud. On the other hand, there’s Johansson who continues to amaze with the same low-key approach she has done so well in Ghost World and Lost in Translation. Despite their different approaches to their acting styles, Travolta and Johansson still work well together, balancing each other out.

Gabel, whose only previous work is a little-known documentary called Anthem, shoots Bobby Long with a bright lens that does a good job at capturing the slow pacing of the script while emphasizing the lush colours of the Southern summer.

There are times when Bobby Long comes across as awkward in its portrayals of poor Southern bumpkins like they’re the only inhabitants of New Orleans. These caricatures are confined primarily to supporting roles though. For those such as Bobby and Percy who gain the majority of the screen time, the characters are strong and their words somewhat more original.