Editing Nobody's Fool (1994 film) (section)

===Critical response===

''Nobody's Fool'' was well received by film critics. [[Leonard Maltin]] gave the film 3 ½ out of 4 stars in his ''[[Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide|Movie Guide]]'': "An irresistibly appealing Newman is surrounded by wonderful actors in this charmingly unpredictable character study..."<ref>''Leonard Maltin's 2011 Movie Guide'' - Penguin Books Ltd. 2010</ref> [[Todd McCarthy]] of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote: "''Nobody's Fool'' is a gentle, flavorsome story of a loose-knit, dysfunctional family whose members essentially include every glimpsed citizen of a small New York town. Fronted by a splendid performance from Paul Newman as a spirited man who has made nothing of his life, Robert Benton's character-driven film is sprinkled with small pleasures; the dramatic developments here don't take place in the noisy, calamitous manner that is customary these days.<ref>{{cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Todd |author-link=Todd McCarthy |title=Review: 'Nobody's Fool' |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=December 11, 1994 |url=https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/nobody-s-fool-2-1200439739/ |access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref> [[Desson Thomson|Desson Howe]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' similarly remarked: "''Nobody's Fool'' is so eloquently straightforward, it practically sings to the soul. A story about very real people caught in the everyday woes and worries of a small Upstate New York town, it shows the kind of character traits, tics and from-the-heart chatter you wish there was more of in the movies.<ref>{{cite news |last=Howe |first=Desson |author-link=Desson Thomson |title='Nobody's Fool' (R) |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 13, 1995 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/nobodysfoolrhowe_c0049c.htm |access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref>  [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] of ''[[The Chicago Reader]]'' also wrote: "This is the first Robert Benton movie I've really liked — and possibly my favorite Paul Newman performance since ''[[The Hustler]]''. Conceived somewhat in the spirit of [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]]'s stories, ''Nobody's Fool'' ambles along semiplotlessly, focusing on the petty love-hatreds that link people together in small towns and the everyday orneriness that keeps them alive...it has both the poetry and the authenticity of failure."<ref>{{cite web |last=Rosenbaum |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Rosenbaum |title='Nobody's Fool'|work=[[The Chicago Reader]] |date=January 19, 1995 |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/nobodys-fool/Film?oid=1150299 |access-date=April 14, 2021}}</ref>

Paul Newman was particularly praised by critics.  [[Caryn James]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' described the star's performance as "the single best of this year and among the finest he has ever given".<ref>{{cite web |last=James |first=Caryn |author-link=Caryn James |title=FILM REVIEW; Paul Newman in Blue-Collar Gear |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 23, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9800E3DF1F38F930A15751C1A962958260 |access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' wrote: "I have been watching Paul Newman in movies all of my life. He is so much a part of the landscape of modern American film that sometimes he is almost invisible: He does what he does with simplicity, grace and a minimum of fuss, and so I wonder if people even realize what a fine actor he is.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Nobody's Fool |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=January 13, 1995 |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/nobodys-fool-1995 |access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref>

The film maintains a 91% rating on the review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on reviews from 55 critics. The site's consensus states: "It's solidly directed by Robert Benton and stacked with fine performances from an impressive cast, but above all, ''Nobody's Fool'' is a showcase for some of Paul Newman's best late-period work."<ref>{{cite web |title= Nobody's Fool |work= [[Rotten Tomatoes]] |url= http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1059487-nobodys_fool/ |access-date= September 30, 2019 }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]] the film has a score of 86 out of 100 based on reviews from 28 critics.<ref name="metacritic">{{cite web |title= Nobody's Fool |url= https://www.metacritic.com/movie/nobodys-fool |website= [[Metacritic]] }}</ref>