Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Nobody's Fool Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 24, 2023

Robert Benton's "Nobody's Fool" (1994) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include new program with actress Catherine Dent; new program with writer Richard Russo; new program with editor John Bloom; new audio commentary recorded by filmmaker and critic Jim Hemphill; and intage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

If you see Robert Benton’s film Nobody’s Fool ten years from now, you will discover a lot that somehow you missed during your first experience with it. If you wait ten more years and revisit it again, you will discover plenty more that somehow you missed during your previous experience with it. How do I know that you did not already get everything Nobody’s Fool has to offer? You are going to have to trust me on this. And if you do not, well, set your timer, start counting the days, and ten years from now see whether what I have written above is true.

It has been nearly thirty years since Benton directed Nobody’s Fool and during this period I must have seen it four or five times. I have always liked it, but not enough to declare that Paul Newman’s best work is in it. Newman is really good as the aging, slightly eccentric loner Sully, but he has done better characters in some truly special films. However, they are different characters too, so I am unsure if it is fair to rank them. In his prime, Newman was quite simply a very different actor.

A few nights ago, I viewed Nobody’s Fool again and what surprised me quite a lot is how much I liked the secondary characters around Sully. In past viewings of Nobody’s Fool I never ignored them and their significance -- Jessica Tandy’s Miss Beryl, for instance, quite simply cannot be ignored -- but I saw them from a different angle, one that pretty much always had me focusing on Sully’s antics. My latest viewing of Nobody’s Fool changed that and did it in a rather dramatic way. In fact, it was so dramatic that it forced me to reconsider my interpretation of the entire film and even the meaning of its title.

Before I explain why I would like to refresh your memory with a quick summation of the main activities in Nobody’s Fool. In the small town of North Bath, New York, Sully shares a home with Miss Beryl. They are not a couple but live as if they are. He rents a room on the second floor; she lives on the first floor and keeps trying to get him to have a cup of tea with her. Each day they argue about something silly, but it is their way of reminding each other that there is a very, very special bond between them. Sully loves to argue with Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis) too, but it is because they have a friendly rivalry. Carl runs a small construction company and owes him money, plus he is having problems with his beautiful wife Toby (Melanie Griffith), who has had enough of him and is seriously considering leaving him. Sully never misses an opportunity to suggest that despite his age he could be the right guy to run away with Toby and make her happy again. When Sully’s son, Peter (Dylan Walsh) unexpectedly appears in town with his family, he too becomes a target in his father’s favorite daily activity, though when they argue it is usually because they simply remember differently the evolution of their broken relationship. Sully’s least favorite debater is the town’s lousiest cop, Raymer (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who also hates him and never misses a good opportunity to hand him a ticket.

Benton very quickly establishes Sully as a colorful relic that the town quite simply cannot function without. Sully’s mere presence charges the town with a special energy that seems to keep it alive. This is what transforms Nobody’s Fool into a very charming film with a huge heart.

What I discovered during my latest viewing of Nobody’s Fool is that virtually everyone that feeds off Sully’s special energy has a very realistic take on their existence. The big splashes of humor tend to overshadow this theme of the narrative quite well, but if you adjust your viewing angle a bit you will easily recognize it. When Sully engages the people around him there is always some reaction revealing their awareness of the passage of time, their time, and that eventually, it is all going to end. This awareness, for instance, is what solidifies Toby’s decision to leave, and forces Peter to hit the reset button and reconsider his preferred path in life.

I am sure that someone will argue that this is what happens when you choose to live in a small town in the middle of nowhere -- you become comfortable existing rather than living and one day you discover that you have run out of time. But this simply is not true. It takes a very special person for this awareness to materialize and in Nobody’s Fool this person is Sully.

Is this what the title of the film was meant to reveal? At some point, we all become aware of the passage of the time that has been given to us. I do not know, but right now this message makes perfect sense to me.

Nobody's Fool Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Nobody's Fool arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment.

I wanted to do a review of this release because I found Kino Lorber's recent 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray release quite frustrating. The combo release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K master that was prepared at Paramount Pictures.

I spent quite a bit of time comparing the two releases and my initial impression of the 4K makeover has been confirmed in more than a few different ways. I will do my best to summarize what I saw and what I think are the strengths and weaknesses of the two releases.

First, the older master that was used to source this release is not as healthy as the new one. This is hardly surprising. While often quite pleasing, delineation, clarity, and depth are not as good as those seen on the 4K makeover. The difference is noticeable in 1080p and in native 4K. Some ranges of shadow nuances are superior on the 4K makeover, too. Naturally, the bigger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to like the quality of the visuals from the 4K makeover. Density levels are superior on the 4K makeover as well, but this is another entirely predictable improvement. Now, the older master produces a lot of very fine visuals too, with close-ups and even some panoramic shots looking even very good. These visuals are just not as fresh and vibrant as the ones you would see on the 4K makeover. Also, on the older master there are various areas that have a more convincing color temperature. Notice that I am not writing that it is entirely correct, but it is definitely truer to how Nobody's Fool was shot. Unfortunately, the older master has predictable grading limitations, so elsewhere there are fluctuations that should not be there. For example, the areas that look good are not plagued by the harsh cyan that pops up on the 4K makeover, which is why there are plenty of superior blues, greens, and whites. In select areas, there is even more detail. See the close-up of the TV set in screencapture #14. It looks much, much closer to how it is supposed to be graded. You can also see the close-up of the white dress in screencapture #10. To be clear, I am not trying to make a case that the new 4K makeover should match the color scheme of the old master -- clearly, the old master has some primaries that are a tad too 'neutral' -- but a new grading job should not eliminate detail. It should revive the native color values of the original cinematography, which is clearly not what the color scheme of the new 4K makeover does. Image stability is good. I noticed a few blemishes and dark spots, but there are no large cuts, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Nobody's Fool Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the film with the 5.1 track and compared it to the 5.1 track from Kino Lorber's recent 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray release. If there are any discrepancies between the two tracks, I missed them. I think that the 5.1 track on this release sounds every bit as impressive. There are no technical anomalies to report.

Nobody's Fool Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by filmmaker and critic Jim Hemphill. There is a lot of interesting information about the shooting of Nobody's Fool in different locations throughout New York state, the decision to shoot different parts of the film in out-of-sequence, Robert Benton's direction, Paul Newman's involvement with the project (as well as particular comments he made about it), the visuals style and tone of the film, etc. It is a very, very good commentary.

• "Nobody's Fool" - in this exclusive new program, actress Catherine Dent recalls how she became involved with Nobody's Fool and what it was like to work with Paul Newman (which her family apparently adored), and discusses Robert Benton's working methods and her character's choices/decisions. The program was created by Via Vision Entertainment. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• "The Origins of Nobody's Fool" - in this exclusive new program, writer Richard Russo explains how his novel came to exist and how his father shaped its identity. Mr. Russo also mentions the sequel to "Nobody's Fool", "Everybody's Fool", and how he used it to revisit his very special relationship with his father, and how Paul Newman had completely taken over its main character after he became Sully. The program was created by Via Vision Entertainment. In English, not subtitled. (23 min).

• "Somebody's Spool" - in this exclusive new program, editor John Bloom recalls how he was approached with an offer to work on Nobody's Fool and his interactions with Robert Benton. There are some quite interesting comments about working in the brutally cold weather as well as the film's promotional campaign. The program was created by Via Vision Entertainment. In English, not subtitled. (23 min).

• Trailer - a vintage U.S. trailer for Nobody's Fool. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

Nobody's Fool Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you have seen our review of Kino Lorber's 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray release of Nobody's Fool, you know that I did not find the new 4K makeover of the film convincing. I thought that there were obvious grading issues on it. It is why I wanted to do a quick review of this release, which is sourced from an old master. The two releases offer unconvincing presentations of Nobody's Fool but for different reasons. I find the issues on the 4K makeover more frustrating because they easily could have been avoided. The old master has entirely predictable and perhaps unavoidable limitations, but in many areas produces more accurate visuals. This release has a better selection of bonus features. RECOMMENDED, but only if you can find it discounted.