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Love Song for Bobby Long, A
EMAILPRINTLions Gate Films Inc.

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 19 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Shainee Gabel
Ronald Everett Capps (novel Off Magazine Street)
Directed by: Shainee Gabel
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 29, 2004
DVD: April 19, 2005
Running Time: 119 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language including some sexual references
Starring John Travolta, Scarlett Johansson, Gabriel Macht, Deborah Kara Unger, Dane Rhodes, David Jensen, Clayne Crawford, and Sonny Shroyer
A rich, emotionally stirring three-character drama set in New Orleans. (Lions Gate Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett
Captivating drama delivers literary flair and Louisiana music and great roles for a grizzled John Travolta and lovely Scarlett Johansson.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Heidi Martinuzzi
Johansson is a stunningly charismatic actress. She gives Travolta a serious run for his money.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
Among other things, the characters in A Love Song for Bobby Long really know how to turn a phrase, in itself a pleasure so rare it all but demands any flaws be forgiven.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
The acting by Scarlett Johansson is so raw and sincere that the film leaves an impact despite its deficiencies.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
Bobby Long can enchant you. It's a film that feels lived in, confident despite its conventions.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie tries for tragedy and reaches only pathos, but then Bobby lost his chance to be a tragic hero by living this long in the first place.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
A pedigree cast elevates old-fashioned material and lackluster screenwriting.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The sole asset of "Bobby Long" is Johansson. Blossoming before our very eyes, she gives Pursy the combination of hope and determination that makes her journey worthwhile.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
An accomplished feature debut with stunning cinematography (by Elliot Davis), a jambalaya story line and yet another heart-stopping performance by Scarlett Johansson.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
This is mainly the girl's story, though the numerous southern archetypes out of Tennessee Williams and Carson McCullers (who's explicitly referenced) keep threatening to overwhelm her.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Melissa Levine
It never jells. Primarily, it can't rise above two major weaknesses: a plangent, plaintive script and the inadequacies of John Travolta.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Travolta has dusted off his folksy Southern character from "Primary Colors" (one of his most acclaimed roles) and he has his moments with it.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
Johansson is magnetic enough to make this batch of Southern-fried corn almost digestible.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Not terrible for a movie featuring John Travolta as a literature professor, but not too good either.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
This smooth concoction goes down with a pleasant tingle and leaves behind a warm glow.
Read Full Review >Premiere Peter Debruge
One of those slow-baked Southern character studies about taking an old flat tire of a man and finding some way to love him anyway.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
It's the stunning location photography of camera ace Elliot Davis that provides what the movie itself lacks: authenticity.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
The movie's real star is the cinematographer, Elliot Davis -- his images carry more emotional freight than all the performances put together.
USA Today Mike Clark
Even in the junky potboilers that John Travolta has persisted in making since his "Pulp Fiction" comeback (all 5,000 of them), you usually get the sense that he's acting in his bailiwick.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Ken Tucker
John Travolta finds no artistic breathing-room in A Love Song for Bobby Long.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
The result is an exercise in emoting that features one of the worst Southern accents in recent memory and does about as much to establish the actor's range as "Battlefield Earth."
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
A poky dawdle of a Southern-style indie that would pass without notice but for John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
The hokey solemnity of A Love Song for Bobby Long suggests "The Mundane Secrets of the Ya-Ya Brotherhood" or "The Notebook Goes to the Big Easy." The movie is another example of Hollywood's going soft and squishy when it goes South.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Macht is the best thing in A Love Song for Bobby Long, but his intelligent performance doesn't justify a tough, and very long, sit.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Maybe they should have called A Love Song for Bobby Long something more appropriately descriptive, such as "When Actors Imitating Southern Characters Go Bad."
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Traffics in nearly every trite cliche of the "colorful" South one can think of, from its pseudo-Gothic aesthetic to its overripe dialogue.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Park
At least Macht emerges relatively unscathed from the mess, content to brood and mutter self-loathing observations while Johansson and (most painfully) Travolta spoon their Southern accents out of a jar and spread it all over the humid scenery.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
No movie that opens with the line "Time was never a friend to Bobby Long" could possibly be any good, and sure enough, A Love Song For Bobby Long lives down to its squibbed kickoff.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Rose N. gave it a10:
Being from the South, the accents are actually pretty close. This film has been in my collection since he came out on DVD. A lost film about real character, not larger than life outrageous story-lines. Scarlett Johannsen and Gabriel Macht give the best performances in the most. Scarlett as a tough yet still young, impressionable teenage girl who is well beyond her years. Macht as a broken hopeless romantic who has some honor and a lot of guilt. The true beauty in this movie was the well-spoken real life conversation and the enchanting music. I give this movie a 10 because I have watched it at least 30 to 40 times and I fall in love with it all over again every time. Low-budget, but brilliant in its simplicity.
Nick N gave it a10:
Brilliant adaptation of Ronald Everett Capps "Off Magazine Street." This may not be for everyone, but this is one of the films I can't resist each time I see it playing on TV.
Laurence C. gave it a10:
My wife and I just caught up with it on cable and we loved it. Scarlett was magnicient. Travolta was good and Macht was terrific. Also Debbie Unger.
William H. gave it an8:
I thought the film was touching with a real sense of family and the slow southern society.
Gazbo B gave it a10:
I bloody well liked it, John and Scarlett and all the cast played their parts, Elliot Davis did magic with the camera.
Edwin K. gave it a7:
Nice movie with some great songs. Realistic story, not the larger than life kind we get so often. A pitty there are so many spoiled critics around these days. Usually the viewers are no better, but in this case they are pretty spot on.
Carolyn W. gave it a10:
Great actors, great script. Speaks to those of us from a "broken" home, and who the hell isn't these days. Quite intellectual and may be hard for some to understand, stick to romantic comedies if you can't respect the feel of this moving film.
