Hope Floats (1998)
Directed by Forest Whitaker
Genres - Drama, Romance, Comedy |
Sub-Genres - Domestic Comedy, Romantic Drama |
Release Date - May 29, 1998 (USA) |
Run Time - 114 min. |
Countries - United States |
MPAA Rating - PG13
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Synopsis by Bhob Stewart
Actor/director Forest Whitaker (Waiting to Exhale) helmed this romantic drama about a one-time high-school beauty queen who returns to her hometown of Smithville, TX. The Steven Rogers screenplay begins in Chicago, where blonde Connie (Rosanna Arquette, uncredited) appears on a trashy daytime talk show and tells a nationwide TV audience about her affair with the husband of her best friend, Birdie Pruitt (Sandra Bullock). Walking into the ambush, Birdie is paraded forth for a public humiliation as Connie's claim is confirmed by husband Bill (Michael Paré). Birdie and her young daughter, Bernice (Mae Whitman), then move back to Texas to live with Birdie's eccentric mother, Ramona (Gena Rowlands), a taxidermist who has filled the house with stuffed animals. Since most of Smithville saw the TV show, embarrassment keeps Birdie sitting around the house in her pajamas; however, her moment of glory as the homecoming "Queen of Corn" has not been forgotten by handyman Justin Matisse (Harry Connick Jr.), the first guy who kissed her back in high school, so a romance soon begins. "Just give hope a chance to float up and it will," says Birdie.
Characteristics
Moods
Themes
Keywords
beauty-queen, extramarital-affair, handyman, hometown, hope, humiliation, mother, talk-show
Attributes
High Artistic Quality