Essentially a supped up, big screen version of a standard made for TV movie, "Hope Floats" actress Sandra Bullock's latest starring vehicle -- has a few entertaining and touching moments, but otherwise comes off as a lackluster, slow-moving feature. Featuring decent, but not very well developed characters, the film has more than its share of predictable, melodramatic and ultimately depressing moments that undermine what could have been a much better feature.
While some people, for whatever reason, like depressing stories, this type of plot falls into our category of "Why Do We Want To See Such Things On The Big Screen?" Audiences usually go to the theater for escapist reasons to laugh, get excited, be afraid, etc... that let us leave our often blase lives and careers. Although some may appreciate seeing that their lives are better than those portrayed on screen, the rest of us usually prefer not to experience depressing, mundane material.
The only exception, of course, is unless the performances are superb, the plot is wonderfully written, and the film has an uplifting ending. While this movie ultimately does show that hope does indeed float, that notion comes as a near tack-on ending and is preceded by a volley of melodramatic moments intended to make women weep and moisten the eyes of even the manliest of men, but surprisingly don't do so.
Working from newcomer Steven Rogers' script, director Forest Whitaker (the director of "Waiting To Exhale," but better known for his acting roles in films such as "Phenomenon" and "Blown Away"), delivers some nice moments and occasionally quirky characterizations, but ultimately fails to give the film much emotional resonance. For instance, while the grandmother is something of an eccentric taxidermist and her grandson has a penchant for acting out different costumed cartoon personalities all of which provide the film with some much needed levity those elements are brief while the multitude of melodramatic moments are just that melodramatic.
Thus, we have the standard depressed wife who wants to sleep all day and walks through the pouring rain at night and whose child now blames her for the family's problems. Then there's the grandmother who has a suspicious cough, but can still manage to solve her granddaughter's problems with one bedtime story.
For a while Whitaker's subtle and not so subtle touches work their charm and the film's problems can be moderately overlooked. Yet when we, the characters, and the story are poised on the brink of happiness, the movie takes a sudden and then long turn into more depressive melodrama and ruins what had been building up. While, and not surprisingly, everything turns out okay in the end, the puppeteer's manipulative strings are clearly too obvious to the audience and that's why we never fully get involved.
Overall, the performances from the cast are good but not outstanding. This is certainly a significant departure for Sandra Bullock who's better known for her romantic comedies such as "While You Were Sleeping" and her stints in action films such as the "Speed" movies. While she's believable in her role, Bullock doesn't really have the dramatic range to completely pull it off and that, coupled with the mediocre and predictable way in which her character's been written, keeps the audience from ever totally caring about her. What we really want to see is that bubbly Bullock grin, and while it occasionally surfaces, most of the time it's concealed under a depressed or exasperated expression.
Musician and actor Harry Connick, Jr. ("Independence Day," "Copycat") delivers the standard, charming good ol' boy character who's surprisingly single and is the catalyst for the main character's change in demeanor. While good in that stereotypical role, he's not given much room to develop. Two-time Oscar nominee Gena Rowlands ("Gloria," "A Woman Under The Influence") is likewise hampered by a less than fleshed out character and similarly plays the standard issue, slightly wacky but ultimately wise grandmother.
Nine-year-old Mae Whitman ("Independence Day," "One Fine Day") does a decent job as the distraught daughter despite being saddled with even more stereotypical elements (no friends, kids picking on her at school, blaming her mom for their problems, etc...). Some of her character's early interactions with Justin, however, are quite funny and allow the audience to embrace her character. Finally, nine-year-old Cameron Finley (of the "Leave It To Beaver" remake) has the least developed of all the characters, but does provide the film with some cute and often funny moments.
Despite its problems and the fact that we never really get emotionally involved in the story, the film does have several nice scenes and some "down home" charm, and the cast certainly brings its share of built in charisma to the screen. Thus, less than critical moviegoers may find it to their liking. To us, it's just too bad that the film becomes so sullen in the second half and that so many stereotypical moments and characteristics permeate the script, all of which ultimately keep the picture from becoming anything more than a high profile, made for TV movie. We give "Hope Floats" a 4 out of 10.