Editing Nobody's Fool (1994 film)

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Nobody's Fool
| image          = Nobodysfool.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Robert Benton]]
| producer       = [[Arlene Donovan]]<br />[[Scott Rudin]]
| based_on       = {{Based on|''Nobody's Fool''<br />1993 novel|[[Richard Russo]]}}
| writer         = Robert Benton
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Paul Newman]]
* [[Jessica Tandy]]
* [[Melanie Griffith]]
}}
| music          = [[Howard Shore]]
| cinematography = [[John Bailey (cinematographer)|John Bailey]]
| editing        = [[John Bloom (film editor)|John Bloom]]
| distributor    = [[Paramount Pictures]]<br />(USA & Canada)<br />[[Capella Films]]<br /> (International)
| released       = {{Film date|1994|12|23|limited|1995|01|13|North America}}
| runtime        = 110 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $20 million<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gadberry |first1=Greg |title=Waterville writer pleased at Hollywood version of novel |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19941220&id=cotKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LpQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6583,5221726&hl=en |access-date=September 9, 2022 |work=[[The Telegraph (Nashua, New Hampshire)|The Telegraph]] |date=December 20, 1994 |via=[[Google News Archive]]}}</ref>
| gross          = $39.5 million<ref name="Box Office Mojo">{{cite web |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=nobodysfool.htm |title=Nobody's Fool |website= [[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date= July 31, 2013}}</ref>
}}
'''''Nobody's Fool''''' is a 1994 American [[Comedy drama|comedy-drama film]] written and directed by [[Robert Benton]], based on the 1993 novel of the same name by [[Richard Russo]]. It stars [[Paul Newman]], [[Bruce Willis]], [[Jessica Tandy]] and [[Melanie Griffith]], as well as [[Dylan Walsh]], [[Pruitt Taylor Vince]], [[Gene Saks]], [[Josef Sommer]], [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]] and [[Philip Bosco]].

It was Paramount's final production under its [[Paramount Communications]] ownership (being sold to [[Viacom (original)|the original Viacom]] in July 1994). For his performance, Newman received nominations for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] and [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role]] as well as for the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama]], in addition to a nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]] for Benton at the [[67th Academy Awards]].

It was the final film featuring [[Jessica Tandy]], who died on September 11, 1994, before the film was released.<ref>{{cite web |last=Berger |first=Marilyn |author-link=Marilyn Berger |title=Jessica Tandy, a Patrician Star Of Theater and Film, Dies at 85 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 12, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0607.html |access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref>

==Plot==
Donald "Sully" Sullivan is a stubborn old reprobate living in the peaceful, snowy northern New York state village of North Bath. He freelances in the construction business, usually with his dim-witted friend Rub by his side. He is often at odds with Carl Roebuck, a local contractor, suing him at every opportunity for unpaid wages and disability. Sully's one-legged lawyer Wirf is inept, and his lawsuits are repeatedly dismissed. As a way to irritate him, Sully openly flirts with Carl's wife Toby at every opportunity (which she enjoys). He is a regular at the Iron Horse Saloon, where he often has drinks and plays cards with Wirf, Carl, Rub, Jocko the town pharmacist, and Ollie Quinn, the town's Chief of Police.

A running joke is the repeated theft of Carl's snowblower. Sully steals it to get back at Carl for his latest failed lawsuit. Carl steals it back, placing it in the yard at his construction business guarded by his [[doberman]] pinscher guard dog. Sully, after drugging the dog, steals it a second time. Carl takes it back a final time, and leaves the dog, who is now skittish due to his drugging, at Sully's childhood home for him to find.

Sully is a tenant in the home of the elderly Miss Beryl, his 8th grade teacher, whose banker son Clive strongly urges her to kick him out and sell the house. Family complications of his own develop for Sully with a visit from Peter, his estranged son who is a jobless professor at odds with his wife. While he and Sully reconstruct their relationship, Sully begins a new one with young grandson, Will. Peter's sudden everyday presence does not sit well with Rub, who quits working with Sully. Meanwhile, Clive is on the verge of a lucrative deal to build an amusement park in North Bath. However, the deal unexpectedly falls through when the promoter turns out to be a con man, and Clive quietly skips town in shame since he used his bank's resources to help finance the amusement park.

After being jailed for punching a police officer who has been hassling him, Sully's luck seems to be all bad. His regular horse racing [[trifecta]] wins, but because he had been jailed, he had missed making the bet. But his son and grandson start to warm up to him, and he rebuilds his relationship with Rub. Then Toby leaves Carl, mostly due to his constant womanizing, and invites Sully to run away with her to Hawaii. Sully accepts, then realizes he cannot leave his grandson and politely declines. Miss Beryl, as a gift, pays the back taxes on Sully's long-abandoned family home. His son gives him a winning ticket for the missing trifecta, which he had bet in his father's absence. In the end, Sully decides to remain in North Bath because of his family obligations.

==Cast==
{{cast listing|
* [[Paul Newman]] as Donald "Sully" Sullivan
* [[Jessica Tandy]] as Beryl Peoples
* [[Bruce Willis]] as Carl Roebuck
* [[Melanie Griffith]] as Toby Roebuck
* [[Dylan Walsh]] as Peter Sullivan
* [[Pruitt Taylor Vince]] as "Rub" Squeers
* [[Gene Saks]] as "Wirf" Wirfley
* [[Josef Sommer]] as Clive Peoples Jr.
* [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]] as Officer Raymer
* [[Angelica Torn]] as Ruby
* [[Jay Patterson]] as Jocko
* [[Philip Bosco]] as Judge Flatt
* [[Catherine Dent]] as Charlotte Sullivan
* [[Margo Martindale]] as "Birdy"
* [[Shannah Laumeister Stern]] as Didi
* Alexander Goodwin as Will
}}

==Production==
The setting for both the book and film, the fictional<ref>{{cite interview|last= Russo |first= Richard |subject-link= Richard Russo |interviewer= [[Terry Gross]] |title= Richard Russo Returns To North Bath, NY, In 'Everybody's Fool' |date= May 9, 2016 |access-date= November 24, 2016 |url= https://www.npr.org/2016/05/09/477314264/richard-russo-returns-to-north-bath-ny-in-everybodys-fool |website= [[Fresh Air]] |quote= ... the characters they portrayed in 'Nobody's Fool' have been revived in Russo's new novel, 'Everybody's Fool.' It's set in the late-90s, 10 years after 'Nobody's Fool,' in the same fictional economically depressed working-class town in upstate New York.}}</ref> North Bath, New York, is based on the real Village of [[Ballston Spa]], New York, in [[Saratoga County, New York]], just east of [[Gloversville]], where Russo grew up.<ref>{{cite web |last=Greenhouse |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Greenhouse |title=Richard Russo, Pulitzer Winner, Tells Gloversville Library Thanks for the Memories |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 24, 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/25/nyregion/pulitzer-winning-author-tells-gloversville-library-thanks-for-the-memories.html |access-date=April 9, 2016}}</ref> The real Ballston Spa was overshadowed by neighboring Saratoga Springs, just as North Bath was eclipsed by the fictional Schuyler Springs.  
''Nobody's Fool'' was filmed in the [[Hudson Valley]] city of [[Beacon, New York|Beacon]], which was paid a $40,000 location fee for services and inconveniences.  Production began in November 1993 and concluded in February 1994. The Iron Horse Bar, located on N. 7th Street in Hudson, NY, is now the Governor's Tavern; and the Diner is now The Grazin' Diner on Warren Street, just around the corner in Hudson.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hollywood on the Hudson |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 16, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/16/nyregion/hollywood-on-the-hudson.html |access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref>

[[Bruce Willis]] reportedly agreed to a substantial pay cut to appear in the film, accepting the [[SAG-AFTRA]] scale of $1,400 per week at a time when the actor was earning roughly $15 million for his action movies, since Willis was very eager to star alongside [[Paul Newman]]. Fearing that Willis' fame as action star could lead people into the film with false expectations, the film wasn't advertised with him and his name does not appear in the opening credits, only in the closing credits.<ref>{{cite web |last=Welkos |first=Robert W. |title=Yes, Virginia, That Was Bruce Willis |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 29, 1995 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-29-ca-25586-story.html |access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Box office===
''Nobody's Fool'' was given a limited release on December 23, 1994, earning $92,838 in six theaters.  The film was given a wide release on January 13, 1995, earning $7,142,691 over its opening weekend in 792 theaters.<ref>{{cite web |last=Natale |first=Richard |title=Holiday Spurs Record-Setting Movie Weekend |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 17, 1995 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-17-ca-20974-story.html |access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref>  The film ultimately grossed $39,491,975 in the US and Canada.<ref name="Box Office Mojo" />

===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>

===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
|-
| rowspan="2"| 20/20 Awards
| Best Actor
| [[Paul Newman]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| Best Adapted Screenplay
| [[Robert Benton]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[67th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]<ref name="Oscars1995">{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1995 |title=The 67th Academy Awards (1995) Nominees and Winners |access-date=November 20, 2011 |work=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |publisher=AMPAS |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109220937/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1995 |archive-date=November 9, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Eller |first1=Claudia |last2=King |first2=Susan |title=The 67th Academy Award Nominations |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=February 15, 1995 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-02-15-ca-32293-story.html |access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Willistein |first=Paul |title=At 70, Paul Newman Is 'Nobody's Fool' |work=[[The Morning Call]] |date=January 15, 1995 |url=https://www.mcall.com/1995/01/15/at-70-paul-newman-is-nobodys-fool/ |access-date=April 10, 2016}}</ref>
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Paul Newman
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Based on Material Previously Produced or Published]]
| rowspan="2"| Robert Benton
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[45th Berlin International Film Festival|Berlin International Film Festival]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Paul Newman Wins Award For Best Actor At Film Festival |work=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |date=February 21, 1995 |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1995/02/21/paul-newman-wins-award-for-best-actor-at-film-festival/ |access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref>
| [[Golden Bear]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Silver Bear for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Paul Newman
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film|Chlotrudis Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://chlotrudis.org/awards/past-awards/1995-awards/ |title=1st Annual Chlotrudis Awards |website=[[Chlotrudis Society for Independent Films]] |access-date=April 23, 2022}}</ref>
| Best Supporting Actor
| [[Bruce Willis]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[52nd Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/nobodys-fool |title=The English Patient – Golden Globes |website=[[HFPA]] |access-date=July 5, 2021 |ref={{harvid|HFPA|1995}}}}</ref>
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
| Paul Newman
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Humanitas Prize]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.humanitasprize.org/prize-nominees |title=Humanitas Prize Nominees |website=[[Humanitas Prize]] |access-date=May 6, 2022}}</ref>
| [[List of Humanitas Prize recipients#1996 (21st Humanitas Awards)|Feature Film]]
| Robert Benton
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[National Board of Review Awards 1994|National Board of Review Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1994/ |title=1994 Award Winners |website=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|7th Place}}
|-
| [[1994 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |title=Past Awards |website=[[National Society of Film Critics]] |date=December 19, 2009 |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| rowspan="2"| Paul Newman
| {{won}}
|-
| [[1994 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nyfcc.com/awards/?awardyear=1994 |title=1994 New York Film Critics Circle Awards |website=[[New York Film Critics Circle]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| {{won}}
|-
| Retirement Research Foundation
| Theatrical Film Fiction
| [[Arlene Donovan]], Michael Hausman and [[Scott Rudin]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[1st Screen Actors Guild Awards|Screen Actors Guild Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/inaugural-screen-actors-guild-awards |title=The Inaugural Screen Actors Guild Awards |website=[[Screen Actors Guild Awards]] |access-date=May 6, 2022}}</ref>
| [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role|Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role]]
| Paul Newman
| {{nom}}
|-
| colspan="2"| [[USC Scripter Award]]s<ref>{{cite web |url=https://libraries.usc.edu/scripter/past-scripter-awards |title=Past Scripter Awards |website=[[USC Scripter Award]] |access-date=November 8, 2021}}</ref>
| Robert Benton {{small|(screenwriter)}}; [[Richard Russo]] {{small|(author)}}
| {{nom}}
|}

====Year-end lists====
* 3rd&nbsp;– John Hurley, ''[[Staten Island Advance]]''<ref>{{cite news|last=Hurley|first=John|date=December 30, 1994|title=Movie Industry Hit Highs and Lows in '94|newspaper=Staten Island Advance|page=D11}}</ref>
* 5th&nbsp;– [[Michael MacCambridge]], ''[[Austin American-Statesman]]''<ref>{{cite news|last=MacCambridge|first=Michael|date=December 22, 1994|title=it's a LOVE-HATE thing|newspaper=[[Austin American-Statesman]]|page=38|edition=Final}}</ref>
* 7th&nbsp;– [[National Board of Review Awards 1994|National Board of Review]]<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125214358/http://nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=1994|url=http://nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=1994|title=Awards for 1994|archive-date=November 25, 2010|website=[[National Board of Review]]|access-date=July 20, 2020}}</ref>
* 10th&nbsp;– [[Janet Maslin]], ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref>{{cite web|last=Maslin|first=Janet|date=December 27, 1994|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/27/movies/critic-s-notebook-the-good-bad-and-in-between-in-a-year-of-surprises-on-film.html|title=CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Good, Bad and In-Between In a Year of Surprises on Film|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref>
* Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked)&nbsp;– Jimmy Fowler, ''[[Dallas Observer]]''<ref>{{cite news|last=Zoller Seitz|first=Matt|date=January 12, 1995 |title= Personal best From a year full of startling and memorable movies, here are our favorites |work=[[Dallas Observer]]}}</ref>
* Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked)&nbsp;– Bob Ross, ''[[The Tampa Tribune]]''<ref>{{cite news|last=Ross|first=Bob|date=December 30, 1994|title=1994 The Year in Entertainment|newspaper=[[The Tampa Tribune]]|page=18|edition=Final}}</ref>
* "The second 10" (not ranked)&nbsp;– Sean P. Means, ''[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]''<ref>{{cite news|last=P. Means|first=Sean|date=January 1, 1995|title='Pulp and Circumstance' After the Rise of Quentin Tarantino, Hollywood Would Never Be the Same|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|page=E1|edition=Final}}</ref>
* Honorable mention&nbsp;–  Glenn Lovell, ''[[San Jose Mercury News]]''<ref>{{cite news|last=Lovell|first=Glenn|date=December 25, 1994 |title=The Past Picture Show the Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- a Year Worth's of Movie Memories|newspaper=[[San Jose Mercury News]]|page=3|edition=Morning Final}}</ref>
* Honorable mention&nbsp;– Jeff Simon, ''[[The Buffalo News]]''<ref>{{cite web|last=Simon|first=Jeff|date=January 1, 1995|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/movies-once-more-with-feeling/article_b73e9a1a-9f60-5d7a-a05c-289243ba0483.html|title=Movies: Once More, with Feeling|work=[[The Buffalo News]]|access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0110684|Nobody's Fool}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=85188}}
* {{AFI film|60413}}

{{Robert Benton}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nobody's Fool}}
[[Category:1994 films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1994 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:American comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Beacon, New York]]
[[Category:Films based on American novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Robert Benton]]
[[Category:Films set in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Films shot in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Howard Shore]]
[[Category:Films produced by Scott Rudin]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Robert Benton]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films shot in the Hudson Valley]]