Los Angeles, Jan 05: In "A Love Song for Bobby Long", John Travolta plays the title character, a former literature professor who now lives an almost destitute life with a former protege in a dilapidated house in New Orleans. When a jaded teenage loner returns to claim her childhood home after the death of her mother, the three set up an uneasy life together.
For Travolta, it was an easy decision to leave the
world of the big budget movies to play Bobby Long. He says it was obvious why such a film should have the advantage of some high-wattage star power.
"It deserves it. And the writing, you don't get this kind of writing on a big budget movie, they won't do it. You have to go out on a limb to get something like this done. You have to be able to do it for no money and you have to be able to support it in hopes that critics and journalists and awards will like it and that's all on the
come ... but it deserves it. We haven't ... we need
messages like this, we need people to be entertained by the
classic concepts. It doesn't happen anymore, and it's
lovely when it does," Travolta says.
The film deals with the lives of fringe-dwelling
misfits who have dropped out of society and resorted to
alcohol to bury their pasts. Travolta says, while he's
never been down that low, there were periods of his life
where just "hanging out" was the order of the day.
"I've certainly had my periods in life where hanging
was important to me. I think the difference in this movie
is that they're broken people that are hanging because
there's no choice, they feel.
I felt that not only did I
have a choice but I wanted to hang so there's a big
difference in the psychology of both motivations so
nevertheless I understand it. I understand the comfort of
having people that you love live with you and you wake up
when you feel like it and conversation is the adventure of
the day and in their case the drinks are the adventure of
the day," Travolta says.
As for portraying an alcoholic, Travolta says he had
plenty of experience of living with heavy drinkers to call
upon.
"I've had my fair share of tolerating drinkers my whole life so I've had an opportunity to exorcise these
people. I've been on the other side of being, you know,
badgered and whether it was, can't name names, but there
was a lot of people over the years that I was the victim of
being, well, wickedness and emotion and a lot of good
things too I mean it's not one thing but I've run the gamut
on the recipient end and I felt it was high time to
exorcise that," Travolta says.
Bobby Long's protege, Lawson Pines, is played by
Gabriel Macht who was given the part just days before
filming was due to begin. he says having Travolta to work
with made the process so much easier.
"A Love Song for Bobby Long", which opens across north
America on December 29th, has already attracted critical attention with a Golden Globe best supporting actress
nomination for Scarlett Johansson.
Bureau Report
