FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1998 All Rights Reserved.
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| FILM Hope Floats In case you've missed the ad that gives it all away (and just in case the whole story doesn't unravel in your mind four minutes into Hope Floats), here's the plot: Sandra Bullock's jerk-off husband dumps her on a trashy talk show, she returns to her hometown, meets Harry Connick Jr., and bides her time until she decides she's ready to try again. She does. They do. Happiness ensues. Roll credits. What holds her back for the first hour and 20 minutes? Is she bravely trying to stand on her own? Not really. After the TV show, she retreats to the comfort of her mom's house, remains a weepy and frumpy basket case, then regains strength at the side of Mr. Connick Jr. Is she holding out hope for her ex-husband? Not really. It's pretty clear to her (and to us) he's a complete pig - she even forbids her daughter to mention him. Is she biding her time for a better man? Not really. Harry, all horny and hunky, just seems to be the first guy to come along who acts half-way nice. In fact, it's hard to figure out the motivation for any of the characters in Hope Floats. Most of them act the way they do because the script says you're supposed to act that way, that's why. And so we wait. Wait for her kid to say something wise-beyond-her-years. Wait for her taxidermist mom to dispense more twinkly-eyed wisdom ("I love all God's creatures. I just prefer some of them stuffed"). Wait for yet another snarky townsfolk heart to warm to her. And most of all, we wait for hope to resurface even though there's nothing standing in the way of hope in the first place. Her mom is a quirky treasure. Her kid is hyper-intelligent. Her new boyfriend is romance-novel perfect. Her ex is clearly the villain, she clearly the blameless victim. Hell, even if she got fired from her lousy new job (she doesn't - that would be too interesting) she clearly deserves it. No, here there are no obstacles, nothing to overcome, nothing to doubt, nothing to rethink and, out there in the audience, nothing to watch. Eventually, hope just simply floats to the surface. And that's why Hope Floats has pathos, sympathy, crying (lots of crying, mostly the result of cheap mother-dying, child-suffering, public-humiliation moments) and the complementary Bryan Adams song. But what is doesn't have is drama. |
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