A performance of pure, unsullied grace

Watching Paul Newman in “Nobody’s Fool” the thought occurred to me how long it’s been since i’ve seen truly outstanding acting. So great is it that I was constantly trying to define it but always coming short. It could have been melodramatic or showy, but instead it’s merely a perfect representation of feeling something so deep it’s pretty much in the bones.

He plays Sully, a ne’er do well who has spent much of his life living in the same snowy, small upstate New York town, bumming odd construction jobs and living the carefree life. He’s a testament to minimalism. He doesn’t seem to own much of anything and he rents the upstairs room of his eighth grade teacher Ms. Beryl (Jessica Tandy).

A knee injury has made life trickier now, something which he blames on a local contractor named Carl (Bruce Willis) who he used to work for. His life seems to be finding ways to get back at Carl, one of which is to conduct an emotional affair with his wife (Melanie Griffith), who’s sick of Carl’s cheating and drinking anyway. He also keeps stealing Carl’s snowblower, which Carl seems to care about more.

Sully would probably be the first one to tell you he was never a good husband or father. He hasn’t seen his son (Dylan Walsh) in three years and is surprised to realize he has grandkids now. His ex-wife, who watches Oprah to “understand men more”, also hates that his life might be in any way fun. “Tell her not to worry”, he tells his son.

But there is a family for him, people who rely on him. Ms. Beryl likes having him around to fix things and for companionship, there’s an addled old lady who absent-mindedly walks around the neighborhood who only responds to him, and he has a dim-witted local handyman friend who he helps with jobs. Then there are the drinking buddies.

Much of the movie is about Sully and his relationships with these people, particularly trying to reestablish one with his son (who is now going through a divorce of his own) and do what he could never do for his son with his grandsons.

He’s a frisky, mischievous sort who’s fun to watch. His idea of a good time is breaking and entering, shittalking authority figures, drugging with sedatives the local guard dog of Roebuck’s company, and flirting endlessly with Griffith, who trades dreams with him of running off to Hawaii together even though it will probably never happen.

Even though his stubbornness, flaws, and backstory have led to regret, he doesn’t dwell on it.
There is such an assuredness to everything he does, a generousness with people that has always seemed to be there even as you can accept he’s made mistakes. This was never a bad man, an abusive one, or even a lazy one, but rather one who gets lost in his own pursuits, only to want to make up for that too late.

There isn’t an actor here who is underserved. The relationship with the Willis character is based in funny barbs and banter but it goes passed the point of adversarial too. You get the sense these guys live for the prodding of each other, and in what feels like eloquent subtlety, Sully is trying to casually imply Carl shouldn’t be taking his own wife for granted.


The scenes between Newman and Griffith are so wonderfully tender, while the ones with Tandy feel like friends who have been through a lifetime together. His friendships, ranging from the dimwited co-worker to his one-legged lawyer are filled with humor as well as camaraderie, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman has another hilarious role as an uptight cop.

There is a great joy in watching Newman work here- by the mid-way point we’ve not only seen a man who seems to have adopted his entire small town but we believe it. Newman’s grace and easy-going spirit just win the movie from first frame to last and upon seeing his last scene, all we can do is look on in admiration and say “he deserves it.”