“I'm from a working-class family. We didn't have a lot, but we had the
arts. You're talking to a guy who is making a living at doing what he loves
doing - acting, singing and dancing. So any career ups and downs were not that
significant to me; the only things that really powerfully impinged on me were
my losses, and there were many in my life.”—John Travolta, undoubtedly
thinking of his first child, Jett, who died at age sixteen following a seizure.
“I don't think I'm very cool as a person. I'm just better than anyone
else at acting cool.”
The heart is a lonely hunter…
74. A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004, USA)
Scarlett Johansson, John Travolta,
Gabriel Macht
This is a warm earthy film with rich dialogue and much to say on the fragile
nature of relationships: friendship, family, pseudo-family and self.
Roger Ebert explains it well: "What can be said is that the three
actors inhabit this material with ease and gratitude: It is good to act on a
simmer sometimes, instead of at a fast boil. It's unusual to find an American
movie that takes its time. It's remarkable to listen to dialogue that assumes
the audience is well-read. It is refreshing to hear literate conversation.
These are modest pleasures, but real enough."
Said Carina Chocano of the L. A. Times: "…deep-down, a redemptive
makeover story drenched in alcohol, Southern literature and the damp
romanticism of the bohemian lush life in New Orleans. A lovely noble rot
pervades the film in much the same way that it does the city, a longtime
repository of lost-cause romanticism. If there's something a little bit moldy
about the setup (drunken literary types, hope on the doorstep, healing from
beyond the grave), the movie is no less charming or involving for it, and it's
no less pleasant to succumb to its wayward allure and wastrel lyricism.”
The ending might be accused of being predictable, but so what? The
story is legitimate and like any other, should not be perverted for the sake of
surprise.
Writers: Ronald Everett Capps, Shainee Gabel
Director: Shainee Gabel (Anthem)
Budget: unknown
IMDB rating: 7.2
75. Michael (1996, USA)
John Travolta, Andie McDowell,
William Hurt, Jean Stapleton, Robert Pastorelli
Here Travolta’s capacity for bold presence is put to work as a heavenly
angel with some very down-to-earth habits; a sort of divine mind with very
human urges. If categorized a comedy, it is one of depth. I found
it delightful and amusing though critics seemed not to know what to make if it.
Nonetheless it was a box office hit, ranking in the year’s top twenty.
Writers: Peter Dexter (Mulholland Falls), Jim Quinlan
Director: Nora Ephron (Julie & Julia, Lucky Numbers)
Budget: $46,000,000
IMDB rating: 5.6
76. Phenomenon (1996, USA)
John Travolta, Kyra Sedgwick,
Forest Whitaker, Robert Duvall
Oddly, Travolta starred in a second 1996 fantasy-drama box office hit,
also about a character with extraordinary powers put to work in rather
altruistic aid of those around him; but here an everyman turned genius by some
apparently supernatural event.
This story is more serious; more of romantic bent than comedic and
touches the heart a little deeper.
The film and its principle actors earned attention from a variety of
awards including MTV wins for best kiss
(Travolta/Sedgwick) and Eric Clapton’s song Change
the World.
Writer: Gerald Di Pego (Instinct)
Director: Jon Turtletaub (National Treasure)
Budget: $32,000,000
IMDB rating: 6.4
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0vmMGgtrKk
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