Hope Floats

1998 "When life fell apart, love fell into place."
6| 1h54m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 29 May 1998 Released
Producted By: 20th Century Fox
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Birdee Pruitt has been humiliated on live television by her best friend, Connie, who's been sleeping with Birdee's husband, Bill. Birdee tries starting over with her daughter, Bernice, by returning to her small Texas hometown, but she's faced with petty old acquaintances who are thrilled to see Birdee unhappy -- except for her friend Justin. As he helps Birdee get back on her feet, love begins to blossom.

Genre

Drama, Comedy, Romance

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Hope Floats (1998) is now streaming with subscription on HULU

Director

Forest Whitaker

Production Companies

20th Century Fox

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Hope Floats Audience Reviews

KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?
Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.
Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.
longcooljolie What is up with that summary title? you might be thinking. There is a thrift store that sells VHS tapes for $0.25 apiece and this movie was in their collection and now it's in my cheap entertainment collection.The reviews on IMDb for this movie are very polarized: people either seem to really hate it or really love it. For me there were equal parts of things to like and not like about it. Sandra Bullock, who was producing for the first time in her new movie, comes across as aimless and wispy in this. Harry Connick as her former schoolmate and potential love interest comes across as stiff and insincere. At the time there was a push toward getting him more highly visible roles, but he was much better as a supporting player (Will Smith's jet fighter buddy in Independence Day a couple of years before).The musical score really helps the movie. There are very nice musical compositions from Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Cheryl Crow, Bryan Adams, and others. It turns out that Patrick Swayze choreographed the dancing in this, which shows up in a very nice scene at a Texas dance hall where couples are doing the Texas two-step.Acting-wise, the best thing was Mae Whitman, who was about 10 at the time and is the centerpiece for the movie's most stirring scene, which happens near the end. She has gone on to build an impressive list of credits and at first glance seems to have transitioned from child actress to viable adult performer very well.The set design is also nice and there are pretty images of the Texas countryside in a few scenes. Overall though, the movie is kind of dreary and a good example of one of Sandra Bullock's career growing pains. Forrest Whitaker directed, and he has also gone on to bigger and better things.
SnoopyStyle Birdee Pruitt (Sandra Bullock) is blindsided by her best friend Connie as she tells her that she's been sleeping with her husband Bill Pruitt (Michael Paré) on a national TV talk show. Birdee and her daughter Bernice (Mae Whitman) runs back home to her mother Ramona (Gena Rowlands) in Smithville, Texas. She's a former beauty queen and everybody in town knows about her embarrassing downfall. Old schoolmate Justin Matisse (Harry Connick Jr.) is still in love with her.Forest Whitaker is the director. He is surprisingly in love with these cheesy romantic movies. There is no real life in this movie. Sandra Bullock is a compelling actress and she has a couple of good scenes. Mae Whitman has a heart wrenching scene at the end. There are good actors here although Harry Connick Jr. still needs some seasoning. He looks too young, too unimpressive, and lacks depth. His relationship with Birdee has a lighter than air quality. There just isn't any substance in their chemistry. It doesn't power through the waters as much as it just floats there.
David Holt (rawiri42) Was Bill Pruitt totally mad to want to leave Birdee (Sandra Bullock)? I mean, if you're going to make a movie about a cuckolded wife, you can't do it effectively using Sandra as your actress. She is the most desirable woman on the planet - not just in looks but as a genuinely sincere person - not to mention a damn good actress. Heck! I can't look at a woman without comparing her with Sandra (which, I guess, is why I'm single - no one meets the standard!)Even in this movie, I can't help feeling that Birdee has a lot of the real Sandra in her. Even though she is beautiful, she is not conceited or vindictive. Harry Connick Jr. as Justin is equally sensitive and doesn't stalk her, even though he clearly counts his blessings that he has a second chance to have what he was too slow to get the first time. He genuinely woos her in the real old-fashioned way which is quite a pleasant change from most so-called romance movies these days.And Mae Whitman as Birdee's 9-year-old daughter, Bernice shows her to be the star that she has, since Hope Floats was made, become. It always amazes me how young children are able to act so convincingly in traumatic domestic situations such as Bernice had to. Full marks to Mae!Of course, a true queen of the silver screen, Gena Rowlands as Birdee's mum, is everything we have come to expect of her - a tender, all-knowing matriarch who holds everything together.All in all, a fine movie that, in my opinion, is worth more than the 5.8 that viewers have given it. Definitely a movie I will happily watch again, and again over the years.
Jenny Rose Birdie learns on a TV talk show that her husband has been sleeping with her best friend. She packs up her car and drives to her mother's home in Texas. Her mother still lives in the same house as Birdie grew up. She talks to many people from her past as she tries to figure out her future.This is a story of how some people will do anything to make other happy, when all it does is make everyone miserable. While it does show the dangers of being a people pleaser and trying to be someone you're not; some will find it hard to see this message past the character of Justin attempting to date a married woman.