Paul Newman is "Nobody's Fool" in this 1994 film also starring Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Dylan Walsh and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Newman magnificently portrays Sully, a 60-year-old man living in a small town in upstate New York. He has a bad knee; he's suing his boss, the hard living Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis) for back wages; he flirts with the boss' wife Toby (Melanie Griffith); he rents from his old school teacher Beryl Peoples (Jessica Tandy) who depends on him; he plays poker and drinks at the local bar; and he plays the Trifecta every day. When his son Peter (Dylan Walsh) comes to town, Sully has to come face to face with the man he abandoned as a child, as well as his ex-wife. (The scene where he sneaks out of her house as everyone screams at each other is a riot.) He gets to know his little grandson, bonding with him as he never did the boy's father. Sully, who in his own way has been taking care of a lot of people in town - and driving some other ones crazy - learns the importance of a family connection and what it entails.

A marvelous script, a marvelous cast, great direction by Robert Benton - "Nobody's Fool" is a small movie with a big message about life. Newman portrays Sully with all of his complexities. He's more a son to Beryl than her own son. He takes care of his workmate Grub (Pruitt Taylor Vance) as he never did his own son. He is there for Toby as she talks about Carl's infidelities, but he was never there for his own wife. What's most wonderful about the script is how character-driven it is and how all its messages come out of the characters. The audience is not beaten over the head with them. When Sully speaks bitterly about his late father, he turns to Peter and says, "That's what you'll say about me when I'm gone." "You were gone, dad," Peter says. "I've already said it." Yet the two men try, without ever verbalizing that they are trying. He's there for Tandy, without a sentimental scene.

Tandy is excellent as a woman who fears the loss of her independence, and fans of Nip/Tuck will get a kick out of seeing Dylan Walsh as he was 14 years ago with his mop of hair. He does very well in his role. Bruce Willis is amazing - relaxed, funny, cheating with a smile. Philip Seymour Hoffman, before stardom hit, has a hilarious role as a policeman trying to nail Sully and not having much luck.

You can't really call what Newman does acting because you won't catch him doing it - he just IS Sully. He creates an unforgettable character in this must-see film.

Very few players have had the wisdom of Paul Newman in choosing film properties that have allowed him to grow old gracefully on the screen and never lose the public's favor. In Nobody's Fool, Newman emerges as a blue collar every man from a depressed area who realizes that he's made a whole lot of wrong choices in his life.

That fact comes home to him when his son and his family come home to Bath, New York for Thanksgiving with his estranged wife. Right afterwards the wife splits and takes one of their two sons with her, leaving Dylan Walsh with his other son who move in with Newman. Walsh is an unemployed teacher who's finding jobs real scarce and he joins Newman doing contracting work. Of course they bond, but not without a few bumps on the road.

Very few films have ever been made about modern upstate New York State of which Bath is a sadly typical example. There's been a depressed economy here for years. You hear a lot of talk in Nobody's Fool about the men wishing some company would relocate there and jobs come back to the town. Both political parties have had a field day blaming the other for the state of things, but no solutions are at hand. Bath is the county seat of Steuben County, located near the Finger Lakes.

I'm sure Newman's characterization rang true with a lot of seniors who regret a lot of choices made in misspent youth. Not many get the chance Newman does to make amends somewhat.

Look for nice performances by Jessica Tandy as Newman's landlady, her stuffy banker son Josef Sommer, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith as a contractor Newman works for and his wife Newman has a thing for and Philip Seymour Hoffman as an uptight small town police officer.

Nobody's Fool is a nice film about the pitfalls and loneliness that can accompany growing old. It's a universal theme except for those who depart this mortal coil early enough to avoid the pitfalls.

Donald "Sully" Sullivan (Paul Newman) is a weary old man living in the small New York state town of North Bath with a wonky knee. His lawsuit against Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis)'s construction company isn't going well at all. Nevertheless he gets a job from Carl off the books. Sully flirts with Carl's wife Toby (Melanie Griffith) who is tired of her broke cheating husband. While hitchhiking, he gets picked up by his son Peter (Dylan Walsh) and his family on their way to Sully's ex-wife Vera for Thanksgiving from Hell. Peter hasn't seen him in 3 years. Sully rents a room in Miss Beryl (Jessica Tandy)'s house but her banker son Clive Jr (Josef Sommer) wants to kick him out and sell the house for a big development. Sully has an idiot friend Rub (Pruitt Taylor Vince) who he hangs out with at the Iron Horse Saloon along with others including Carl, the sheriff, and his lawyer. Scully's grandson sneaks a ride in the back of his pickup truck and he reconnects with Peter. Police officer Raymer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is tired of the malcontent.

Everybody is grumpy about everybody else. What this movie needs is a more humorous sense. Paul Newman needs a nice funny sidekick to compliment his surliness. Newman's great but the movie needs to be much funnier. The whimsy in this movie isn't funny. It also rambles and meanders with way too many characters and side stories. They are all weirdly fascinating but the movie feels scattered by the numerous characters.