Nobody's Fool
Director: Robert Benton
Year Released: 1994
Rating: 3.5
The Don Quixote-Sancho Panza metaphor couldn't be more appropriate: the Paul Newman character, despite being in his sixties, is still eccentric, fiery and independent, while Pruitt Taylor Vince, the only guy who can stand working with him, is a slow but trusting companion who sees past his faults. Benton's character study of this renegade-as-an-old-man/Holy Fool is charming and quaint, without ever resorting to too much sentimentalism - his screenplay, based on the Richard Russo novel, keeps Sully likeable but edgy, and the people in his snowy world are multidimensional: there are no enemies or bad guys, but there are human dilemmas that need to be dealt with. I found it intriguing how Benton never shows you what Sully's bedroom looks like – you always see him outside or in a coffee shop or in his truck, and this seems like a subtle but intelligent move by Benton: the entire town is his home.
