Paul Newman had already delivered so many terrific turns in his lifetime that he hardly needed to continue past retirement age to cement his legendary status. Yet here he's found giving one of the best performances of his career.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 23, 2022

Ultimately, it sends us a proud and entertaining message that we can express love for others.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 25, 2022

The formula the film follows endears, because Newman is able to make Sully both charming and an enormous screw-up.

| Feb 4, 2021

The movie is both a star vehicle and an ensemble piece; the other actors revolve around Newman yet give off more than just his reflected light.

Full Review | Oct 29, 2013

We love to see our movie gods play flawed souls, especially a god with a face that looks like one on a Roman coin.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 29, 2013

Robert Benton has made Nobody's Fool, a return to the finely humanistic spirit that made his Places in the Heart and Kramer vs. Kramer' so popular.

| Oct 29, 2013

Moviegoing holds few pleasures greater than watching an established star completely inhabit a role that exactly suits his personality and abilities. And seeing Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool defines that pleasure.

| Oct 29, 2013

Nobody's Fool is an unprecedented treat, populated with charming, believable characters and a parting shot so beautiful even the hardest of hearts will melt helplessly at its sight.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 29, 2013

Nobody's Fool is funny at times and as cuddly as an old teddy bear. But this movie is being taken far too seriously in some circles.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 29, 2013

While watching Robert Benton's sublime adaptation of Richard Russo's novel, it's hard to avoid the realization that movies like this have become an endangered species.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 29, 2013

Director Robert Benton captures the droll eccentricity of small-town life without any of the usual phony preciousness.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 29, 2013

The principal pleasure of this film directed by Robert Benton is that its characters are carefully drawn and developed rather than applied like so many decals on a two- dimensional wintry landscape.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 29, 2013

Over time, the rhythms of small-town life and the eccentricities of its residents can grow on you. That's exactly what happens as you watch this sharply observant movie.

| Oct 29, 2013

An old hand at this kind of heart-warming fare, Benton doesn't swamp it with sentimentality, allowing the crumpled charisma of Newman to effortlessly carry the drama.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 29, 2013

Newman clearly owns the part of Sully, but there is nary a false or uncertain note struck by anyone in this ensemble cast.

| Oct 29, 2013

The movie feels oddly phony from its very core outward.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 29, 2013

For better and for worse, it's still a Hollywood movie (and a white boys' movie to boot), but one with a more alert eye and feeling for American life than most of its competitors.

| Oct 29, 2013

Not much of a plot? Don't be fooled. The best thing about a story so subdued, so contained -- at least when it's done well, and Fool is done exceptionally well -- is that, in the quiet, we can really hear the characters breathe.

| Original Score: A- | Sep 7, 2011

Fronted by a splendid performance from Paul Newman... Robert Benton's character-driven film is sprinkled with small pleasures; the dramatic developments here don't take place in the noisy, calamitous manner that is customary these days.

Full Review | Mar 26, 2009

The tagline for Nobody's Fool was 'Worn to perfection.' That sums up the life and acting career of Paul Newman.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 22, 2008