Brief plot summary: 18-year old Pursy leaves her trailer and boyfriend to visit her mother's house in New Orleans after she hears from her death. There she meets many people who knew her mother, who was a singer/songwriter. She learns a few things about herself and takes her life into a new direction.
I just saw this in a sneak preview. Let me get right to the point: It may have been me, but I never really managed to believe the main characters. I like Travolta and Johansson in most of their earlier work, but they seem miscast here. Five or more literary quotes later, I still couldn't believe Travolta to be a former English professor. To a lesser extent, Johansson was no trailer park Southern Belle. Both tried hard, but I simply didn't buy it.
For a movie such as this, believing the characters is crucial. I never managed to get engaged with the characters. What happened to them, didn't really matter.
The rest of the cast delivered fine performances.
What makes this worth a watch, is the locale. I have personally never visited New Orleans, but this only wanted me to go there more. The colors, the music and the New Orleans weather really support the plot well.
What also works is the bitter sweet humor. This isn't a "ha ha" comedy, but there is enough to make you smile or even laugh out loud once in a while.
Some of the characters (Bobby Long, Lawson Pines) and themes (literature, decline of an English professor) reminded me a bit of "Wonder Boys." This movie falls short by comparison, again mostly because of the casting. Michael Douglas was totally believable as the English professor, so unlike Travolta here. 6/10
I just saw this in a sneak preview. Let me get right to the point: It may have been me, but I never really managed to believe the main characters. I like Travolta and Johansson in most of their earlier work, but they seem miscast here. Five or more literary quotes later, I still couldn't believe Travolta to be a former English professor. To a lesser extent, Johansson was no trailer park Southern Belle. Both tried hard, but I simply didn't buy it.
For a movie such as this, believing the characters is crucial. I never managed to get engaged with the characters. What happened to them, didn't really matter.
The rest of the cast delivered fine performances.
What makes this worth a watch, is the locale. I have personally never visited New Orleans, but this only wanted me to go there more. The colors, the music and the New Orleans weather really support the plot well.
What also works is the bitter sweet humor. This isn't a "ha ha" comedy, but there is enough to make you smile or even laugh out loud once in a while.
Some of the characters (Bobby Long, Lawson Pines) and themes (literature, decline of an English professor) reminded me a bit of "Wonder Boys." This movie falls short by comparison, again mostly because of the casting. Michael Douglas was totally believable as the English professor, so unlike Travolta here. 6/10