I can't pinpoint exactly why I enjoy this film so much, I like to call it one of my favorite movies that no one's ever heard of. I think it might have something to do with Paul Newman's character reminding me of my own father. Not that my father stole snow blowers or ever hit the trifecta, but it's just that affecting manner that makes a senior citizen a respected member of the community by dint of a lifetime of being just a regular good old guy. There's also the methodical way of speaking and listening, and coming to terms with the life one has led, even if it means having never left the small town in which you've grown up. It might also have something to do with the location of the story, since I'm from a small upstate New York town too, but heck, this could have taken place in any Smalltown, USA and it still would have connected.
The story has some great dialog, with Sully (Newman) having the best lines, like addressing his arrogant employer Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis) - "I used to believe in brains and hard work until I met you". Or taking on the wanna be big time lawman Raymer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) - "This is where a smart guy would get out of the truck". You would have to have grown up in a town of sixteen hundred residents to know that every public incident is just that, public for the whole town to know about in the blink of an eye.
You know, you can't pick your family, but you can pick your friends. The thing is, by the time the picture was over, Sully was able to pick his family as well. Son Peter (Dylan Walsh) figured out Sully wasn't such a bad guy after all, and grandson Will came to learn that being scared was OK. There are some lessons you can take away from a worn out retread like Don Sullivan, you just have to recognize the limitations - "I am hurrying, it just looks like slow motion."
Now that I think about it some more, Beryl Peoples (Jessica Tandy) could have been my own grandmother too. And every small town has a Rub Squeers, I can picture that guy from my past too, even though he's passed on now. The only thing that hurts to remember is how things have changed since this film was made, not quite two decades ago. Fifteen dollars for a traffic violation! - I paid one this year for a hundred eighty dollars! I should have brought a Toby Roebuck with me to court.
The story has some great dialog, with Sully (Newman) having the best lines, like addressing his arrogant employer Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis) - "I used to believe in brains and hard work until I met you". Or taking on the wanna be big time lawman Raymer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) - "This is where a smart guy would get out of the truck". You would have to have grown up in a town of sixteen hundred residents to know that every public incident is just that, public for the whole town to know about in the blink of an eye.
You know, you can't pick your family, but you can pick your friends. The thing is, by the time the picture was over, Sully was able to pick his family as well. Son Peter (Dylan Walsh) figured out Sully wasn't such a bad guy after all, and grandson Will came to learn that being scared was OK. There are some lessons you can take away from a worn out retread like Don Sullivan, you just have to recognize the limitations - "I am hurrying, it just looks like slow motion."
Now that I think about it some more, Beryl Peoples (Jessica Tandy) could have been my own grandmother too. And every small town has a Rub Squeers, I can picture that guy from my past too, even though he's passed on now. The only thing that hurts to remember is how things have changed since this film was made, not quite two decades ago. Fifteen dollars for a traffic violation! - I paid one this year for a hundred eighty dollars! I should have brought a Toby Roebuck with me to court.