A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)

Director:

Shainee Gabel

Writers (WGA):

Ronald Everett Capps (novel)
Shainee Gabel (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 January 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The heart is a lonely hunter.

Plot:

A headstrong young woman returns to New Orleans after the death of her estranged mother.

Plot Keywords:

Funeral | Book | Reference To Plato | New Orleans Louisiana | Loss Of Mother

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

John Travolta	...	Bobby Long
Scarlett Johansson	...	Pursy Will
Gabriel Macht	...	Lawson Pines
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Georgianna
Dane Rhodes	...	Cecil
David Jensen	...	Junior
Clayne Crawford	...	Lee
Walter Breaux	...	Ray
Sonny Shroyer	...	Earl
Carol Sutton	...	Ruthie
Warren Kole	...	Sean (as Warren Blosjo)
Bernard Johnson	...	Tiny
Gina 'Ginger' Bernal	...	Waitress
Douglas M. Griffin	...	Man #1 (as Douglas Griffin)
Earl Maddox	...	Man #2

Also Known As:

Love Song (France) [fr]
Lovesong für Bobby Long (Germany) [de]
Secretos del pasado (Argentina) (video title) [es]
Uma Canção de Amor para Bobby Long (Brazil) [pt]
Una canción del pasado (Spain) (working title) [es]
Una canzone per Bobby Long (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated R for language including some sexual references.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Germany:6 | Brazil:16 | Malaysia:18SX | USA:R (certificate #41073) | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) (cut) | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) (uncut) | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Sweden:7

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Destination Films

Trivia:

The production ran into budgetary problems halfway through. Several background extras were brought to a New Orleans location, fitted for costumes, fed dinner, and then sent home without pay because their scene had been cut. Some New Orleans retailers complained that thousands of dollars worth of clothes were returned unused because the scenes they were bought for were never filmed.

Goofs:

Continuity: The ship disappears out of the screen too quickly. While Bobby and Lawson are talking on the bank of the river, a barge goes across the screen. A close-up comes in for the men, but when it pulls back again, the barge is completely gone. It was a continual scene, with one conversation, but there was nowhere near enough time for the slow moving barge to get out of sight.

Quotes:

Lawson Pines: That girl looks so much like Lorraine. Remember the first time you took me to see her sing was my first time in New Orleans.
[pause]
Lawson Pines: I was so taken.
Bobby Long: Well... you were kind of. You were kind of sheltered. Choked by that silver spoon.
Lawson Pines: I thought she was so beautiful.
Bobby Long: She was.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Lonesome Blues

this is a great film

This may be one of john travolta's finest acting roles. The critic reviews were lukewarm, and it seems the movie wasn't released in many theaters for people to see, which is a shame. This is a gem of a film. It takes place in new orleans and follows the lives of three unlikely roommates. Two drunken men living in a dilapidated house of a dead woman, and the woman's estranged only daughter who comes to claim her inheritance-a third of the house. With no place to go, the three stay together under the same roof and a friendship somehow grows, like grass through a sidewalk crack. Well acted, and well directed, there are times the pace of the film seems to slacken but it doesn't take away from the story being told. All in all, one of my favorite films no one saw this year.