NOBODY’S FOOL

Paul Newman plays a 60-year old man called “Sully” who has alienated himself from his family. A carpenter, he rents a room in the home of his eighth grade school teacher, Mrs. Beryl (Jessica Tandy). She adores him, although they argue constantly. Bruce Willis plays his boss who cheats on his wife (Melanie Griffin). They live in North Bath, New York, and, as Thanksgiving approaches, so does Sully’s grown son. He’s coming home with his wife and two young sons, but not to see his dad, as he’s never forgiven Sully for leaving home. North Bath is a small town, so their paths cross and Sully meets his grandchildren for the first time. Sully’s crusty surface begins to crumble as he bonds with the youngest child, and gradually he and his son learn to forgive each other.

Paul Newman will probably be nominated for an Oscar for this role, and deservedly so. NOBODY’S FOOL is about real people with big hearts and small pocketbooks who can find humor in the most dismal circumstances. Sully lives by his own rules, yet he’s the first to help a confused old lady find her way home, and the only one who treats his simple-minded helper as a friend. Along with much nudity, the movie’s “real” dialogue among the neighborhood cronies includes obscenities, profanities and crude references to sex. What a pity NOBODY’S FOOL zeros in on the distasteful language and crude behavior.