NOBODY'S FOOL
A film review by Vince Deehan
Copyright 1996 Vince Deehan
Directed by Robert Renton. Written by Robert Renton. Based on the novel by Richard Russo. Cast : Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Dylan Walsh, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gene Saks.
NOBODY'S FOOL is set in the small town of North Bath, in upstate New York, and tells the story of Sully (Paul Newman) a man who has been living life by his own rules and has long since abandoned his wife and son. Sully is in his sixties and does odd-jobs around town with his slow-minded friend Rub (Pruitt Taylor Vince) and is trying in vain to get some financial compensation from the Tip Top Construction company boss Carl (Bruce Willis), for whom he did a job during which he suffered an accident, damaging his knee. Sully hasn't got alot of money so he hires the services of a local one-legged lawyer (Gene Saks) who tells Sully that although they haven't won compensation yet, his constant attempts will eventually lead to success.
Sully shares a house in town with his elderly landlady, Miss Beryl (Jessica Tandy), who clearly values Sully more than he does himself. When Miss Beryl suffers a mild stroke and is released from hospital she hopes that Sully will look after her, a suggestion that he doesn't take too enthusiastically, although she is sure he is up to the job.
Sully's ex-wife still lives in the same town, though she is now remarried, and she is visited for Thanksgiving by her and Sully's son and grandchildren. Sully meets up with his son and becomes quite close to his newly met grandchildren and gradually starts to bond with his son Peter (Dylan Walsh) who he abandoned as a child. Sully is a very unconventional guy and sees no wrong in the petty theft of his old boss Carl's snowblower. When Carl finds out who took it from him he steals it back from Sully and then Sully gets Peter to help him steal it again. From this point on Sully and his son begin to get closer and Peter comes to know his father for the first time.
Paul Newman gives a fantastic performance as Sully, but is never flashy and showy. It is a subtle performance that slowly builds up to give the picture of man who has a good heart but has made some mistakes in his life that he is now trying to amend for. There is no clear reason given for Sully's abandonment of his wife and son (other than admitting that he didn't get along with his wife), and somehow this doesn't really matter. We don't need to know exactly what went wrong, we can see clearly enough that Sully was probably unable to cope with the responsibility and simply fled. In the scenes with his son Peter, there are no exaggerated scenes where Sully begs forgiveness from his son. Sully knows he has done wrong and simply lets Peter into his life and lets him decide for himself if he can learn to respect his father.
The supporting performances are also very strong, with Jessica Tandy and Pruitt Taylor Vince deserving the most praise. NOBODY'S FOOL is dedicated to Jessica Tandy, who died before the film was released. She gives a fine performance as an old lady who knows that she has found a soulmate in Sully, although she knows better than to expect him to acknowledge it. Every scene she is in radiates with the warmth of her character. It's a joy to watch her scenes with Paul Newman, particularly the scene at the hospital where she breezily mentions that she had suffered a small stroke.
As Sully's friend Rub Squeers, Pruitt Taylor Vince delivers a finely judged performance as an innocent, childlike man who is very close to Sully, and feels very upset and left out when Sully's son Peter comes along and seemingly takes Sully away from him. The scene where Sully reassures Rub that they are still best friends leaves Rub close to tears . This is a scene where the sheer skill of Newman and Vince veers the scene away from mawkish sentimentality and makes it feel natural and real.
NOBODY'S FOOL is a wonderfully engrossing study of small town life where excellent writing and acting combine to show characters you slowly come to know and care about.
Review written on Sat 2nd March 1996 by Vince Deehan (vince@deehan.demon.co.uk)
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