Hope Floats

Birdee Pruitt thought she had it all. A handsome husband, a sweet daughter, a nice house in Chicago. Then she got a free makeover on national television, and the host revealed that her best friend was sleeping with her husband. Bill himself walked out and confessed his infidelity to millions of viewers. Humiliated and shattered, Birdee packed up her young daughter Bernice and fled to her hometown of Smithville, Texas, a small town where everyone remembered her as the prom queen and four-time Corn Queen, and where many took smug pleasure in watching the golden girl fall.

Directed by Forest Whitaker in his second feature, the film stars Sandra Bullock in a vulnerable, career-redefining performance. Harry Connick Jr. plays Justin Matisse, a childhood acquaintance who quietly adored Birdee from afar and now offers patient friendship. Gena Rowlands brings warmth and eccentricity as Ramona, Birdee's taxidermist mother who creates whimsical stuffed animals and dispenses tough love. Mae Whitman, in an early role, plays Bernice with a heartbreaking mix of hope and confusion.

With a $30 million budget, the film grossed over $81 million worldwide, proving Bullock could anchor a dramatic role after a string of box office disappointments. The soundtrack features Connick Jr. performing several jazz standards, and Dave Grusin's score underscores the film's gentle, melancholic tone. The opening talk show sequence, inspired by real-life ambush television, has become the film's most discussed scene. [edit]

Birdee Pruitt's life unravels in the most public way possible. Invited onto a national talk show for a free makeover, she instead finds herself ambushed by host Toni Post, who reveals that Birdee's husband Bill has been having an affair with her best friend Connie. Bill emerges from backstage and confirms it all on live television. Birdee is left standing in front of a studio audience, her marriage and dignity stripped away.

Unable to face her Chicago life, Birdee loads Bernice into the car and drives south to Smithville, Texas, the small town she left behind years ago. They move into the cluttered, whimsical home of Birdee's mother Ramona, who fills the house with her taxidermy creations and her blunt, loving advice. Also living there is young Travis, Birdee's nephew, left in Ramona's care by Birdee's flighty sister. Birdee's father Harry resides in a nursing home, silenced by a stroke but still able to communicate through his eyes and gentle gestures.

The homecoming is harsh. Smithville is a place where everyone knows everyone's business, and Birdee's fall from grace is the juiciest gossip in years. A former high school rival, now running the temp agency, forces Birdee to humble herself for a job. Bernice clings to a letter from Bill, rereading it and hoping her parents will reunite. Birdee sinks into depression, struggling to remember who she is outside of being Bill's wife.

Justin Matisse, a handyman with a kind smile and a crush that dates back to high school, begins gently inserting himself into Birdee's life. He fixes things around Ramona's house, brings over food, and offers friendship without pressure. Birdee resists, still raw and untrusting. She visits her father, who silently encourages her. She takes the temp job, working under the woman who resents her for past slights. Slowly, through small, painful steps, Birdee begins to rebuild. She learns to accept her mother's unconditional love, to see her daughter's resilience, and to consider the possibility that she might be worthy of love again.[edit]