Nobody's Fool

Richard Russo writes big, warmhearted novels (Nobody's Fool, Empire Falls) about small-town upstate New Yorkers that remind me of my family: in fact, the town of North Bath, the setting of Nobody's Fool, is a thinly veiled fictionalization of Ballston Spa, the little burg where I was born and raised (you might be familiar with the town's well-known neighbor, Saratoga Springs). Director Robert Benton's 1994 adaptation necessarily jettisons a few of the 549-page novel's labyrinthine subplots and minor characters, but still captures the heart of the novel with its serio-comic depiction of a season in the life of 60-year-old Donald "Sully" Sullivan (Paul Newman, in a wonderful, Oscar-nominated performance). Long divorced, nursing a bum knee, constantly struggling with both his on-again/off-again employer (Bruce Willis) and a local gung ho cop (an early appearance by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who--incidentally--will be starring with Newman in the HBO movie Empire Falls), Sully's world is turned upside down when his estranged adult son and grandson reenter his life, forcing him to confront the past, and--even more uncharacteristically for Sully--consider the present and future. Featuring excellent supporting performances from Willis, Hoffman, Jessica Tandy (in her next to last film), and Melanie Griffith, among others, Nobody's Fool is grand storytelling, full of heart and more than a few belly laughs. Debuting on DVD with a very nice widescreen transfer and a fine Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (but, unfortunately, no extras), this is highly recommended. (R. Pitman)