We all know someone like Donald “Sully” Sullivan – a person whose fierce rebellion against anything that even vaguely suggests that they are on the older end of the spectrum becomes almost their entire personality, which makes them both frustrating and endearing individuals. This is the stock character that occupies Robert Benton’s exceptional Nobody’s Fool, a film based on the novel of the same title by Richard Russo, which looks at the trials and tribulations of a semi-retired, working-class citizen living in his small hamlet in snow-covered upstate New York, navigating a range of scenarios that vary from mildly inconvenient to borderline perilous. Benton, who is someone that seasoned viewers know to be a director with a penchant for the stories of ordinary folk, is the right person to adapt this novel, since his ability to capture the smallest and most intricate details of suburban life made him a reliable, if not somewhat conventional, filmmaker. As one of his final great films before slowly easing into his present retirement, Benton uses decades of industry experience to tell the story of a man desperately holding onto his youth, ignoring the clear signs of ageing, firm in the belief that he is going to be around for several decades, a sentiment that very few people around him can agree with. Small but powerful in ways that only the finest works of dramatic fiction can be, and undercut with a genuinely moving sense of humour that evokes as much laughter as the more dramatic material stirs conversation, Nobody’s Fool is just an absolute delight, both in the story it tells and the form it takes, proving to be one of the more effective and towering works of socially-mediated drama from an era filled to the brim with these kinds of stories.

Nobody’s Fool seems like a relatively simple film at the outset – a charming story about the residents of a small town, one of those places barely big enough to qualify for such a classification and where everyone knows and appreciates their neighbour (or absolutely detests them as a result of a decades-long feud). This is certainly where the film first finds its footing, acting as a slice-of-life drama without much conflict outside of a few well-placed moments of effective melodrama. However, we soon come to realize how this is a tremendously affecting look into the working-class and their everyday challenges, all told through the perspective of someone who embodies the spirit of the traditions and values, as well as the rambunctious curiosity to see how far he can push his own agenda, which is often the most clear sign of someone with true grit. Nobody’s Fool is a complex character study, plucked directly from the minds of a writer who has often shown his prowess in capturing the intricate details of daily life amongst communities that are not necessarily marginalized, but rather rarely afforded such deep and soulful explorations of what makes them function. Much like Russo, Benton has shown a remarkable ability to tell stories about the proverbial everyman who strives to stand out, individuals who go through life without any discernible qualities outside of their ferocious desire to move beyond their pleasant but unremarkable surroundings. At a surface-level glance, it seems like nothing much happens in Nobody’s Fool, which can fool the viewer into thinking this is just a meandering series of moments – but as we immerse ourselves deeper into the film, we start to realize that there is an incredible amount of nuance to what Benton and Russo are doing here, which makes for a truly engaging story based around the simultaneous honouring and dismantling of traditions.

Few actors have ever been able to capture every raw and beautiful detail of existence more than Paul Newman. In a career that spans over half a century, he proved to be one of the greatest performers to ever work in the medium, and someone who we could rely on to constantly deliver extraordinary work. Like several of the performances he took later in his career, Nobody’s Fool seems relatively unassuming – a conventional, by-the-numbers drama that places Newman at the heart of the story and allows him to showcase his talents without requiring him to undergo much physical or emotional strain, which was often the hallmark of his earlier work (which ultimately allowed him to exist that the intersection between heartthrob and serious actor, an achievement few actors of his generation managed to do simultaneously). However, the more time we spend with this film, the clearer it becomes that he is delivering some of his best work – mischievous, charismatic and undeniably appealing, his performance is a masterclass in nuance. The film rests squarely on his shoulders, and while it is easy to view it as yet another instance of a story tailor-made to showcase a particular legendary actor (meaning that Benton could’ve technically made this with any well-established performer in the lead role), it disregards how much incredible effort Newman is putting into absolutely every moment of this performance. He may be older and more frail, but he still carries himself with the vivacity that made him such a popular actor in his earlier years, the same spark from his younger days being found throughout this film. Not many actors can attribute their entire career to the impossible blend of both pure talent and unflinching magnetism, but Newman embodied that perfectly, proving that he was an actor who was consistently working at his peak, finding the complexity in even the most traditional characters.

Intrinsically tied to Newman’s performance are the components that make Nobody’s Fool so incredibly effective. As I’ve mentioned, this is not a film that announces itself as subversive or unorthodox in any way, and instead works best as the kind of film that one seeks out for a couple of hours of solid, captivating entertainment that offers warmth and comfort, which is a perfectly viable and appropriate status for a film like this to carry without having to bear the burden of being considered slight, which is avoided through being genuinely excellent in how it approaches certain themes, which are woven into the fabric of the story. This film is a perfect example of how a director can make something extremely sentimental without it veering towards being heavy-handed, which is often the cause for many more conventional films to be dismissed as minor efforts. Nobody’s Fool proves that sentimentality and intelligence are not mutually exclusive, and that it is entirely possible for the smartest films to have a lot of heart, and the most touching works to be challenging, which it does through genuinely emotionally-resonant storytelling, engaging with themes of ageing, familial strife and working-class malaise in a way that is actively interesting and clearly-defined, but never overwrought. There’s an elegance to this film that is clear from the start – it may seem like a very small and intimate story of an old man working his way through a few challenging situations (and where the happy ending is almost a given), but the tenderness is undercut by a sense of complex melancholy, whether it be in how the protagonist is characterized (which is a testament to both Benton’s construction of the character, and Newman’s interpretation), or in the brief moments where our gaze is diverted from that of Sully, and instead briefly focused on one of the many secondary characters, who may not be as prominent, but are just as important in constructing this vivid tapestry of life that makes the film feel so extraordinarily vibrant. 

This film simply exudes the feeling of being alive – and while this seems like a relatively simple achievement, it is not particularly easy to construct something that is both warm and challenging, often at the same time. It serves as a lesson for the viewer to not immediately assume that a film that is built on community values and heartfelt, seasoned wisdom is necessarily going to be deprived of complexity, since there are numerous moments in this film that resonate on a much deeper level than just garden-variety sentimentality. A charming film that exists somewhere between heartwarming drama and irreverent comedy, Nobody’s Fool is a delight, an easygoing film that knows its ultimate destination, and intends to put the viewer at ease, reminding us that we are constantly in good hands. The valuable nature of the film was never truly in doubt – even if it had fell victim to its own sentimentality, it would’ve still had worth, since the story it tells (regardless of execution) is one that is exceptionally important, as it touches on a wide range of issues that resonate with many viewers, regardless of background. The perfect collision of heartfelt humour and poignant melancholy culminates in a truly wonderful film, one that will likely transcend boundaries through focusing on ideas that are far more unifying than they’d appear at first. Genuinely moving and always consistently warm, Nobody’s Fool is a wonderful film that carries a wealth of meaning, and proves that some of the most effective lessons are those that come in the most unexpected packages, and that sometimes, all it takes to find meaning is just a shift in perspective, which is ultimately the most important lesson of this charming film.