 Critics could not form a chorus for A Love Song for Bobby Long, the new John Travolta movie vying for end-of-the-year Oscar consideration. Some are singing its praises; others find it dissonant and off-key. Among the latter is Stephen Holden of the New York Times who writes that "it dawdles along aimlessly for nearly two hours before coming up with a final revelation that is no surprise." He calls Travolta's performance "hammed-up, scenery-chewing." Likewise, Lou Lumenick in the New York Post describes the movie as "endless and pretentious" and says that "Travolta hams it up mercilessly." On the other hand, Gene Seymour in Newsday finds the movie entirely "watchable" largely because of the "magnetic" performances by Travolta, Scarlett Johansson and Gabriel Macht. "Travolta's greasy, gristle-laden performance is pure hambone," Seymour writes, apparently meaning it as a compliment. (Indeed, at one point in the story, a character says to Travolta's character: "You are such a shameless ham.") Bob Strauss in the Los Angeles Daily News is clearly charmed by Travolta's performance. "The title role provides John Travolta a rare opportunity to masticate reams of literate dialogue while pretending to be drunk and drawling. He has a high old time with the material, and makes a viewer feel like an honored guest at his play-acting party," he writes. Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times also writes enthusiastically about Travolta's performance: "There's something hard to pinpoint about Travolta that suits the character of Bobby perfectly: glibly, hammily self-aware, he seems to revel in his own magnetism and facile charm, and dislike it in equal measure." |
