Hope Floats Cert. PG Director: Forest Whitaker
In our cynical society the epithet 'heart-warming' is enough to chill the blood of any thinking cinema punter. On the other hand among so many films which peddle violence, lust and the most unspeakable kind of low life, Hope Floats offers something of the positive alternative - a winning through kind of story.
The heroine (Sandra Bullock) who sports the extraordinary name 'Birdee' (a fact which only becomes apparent on the credits as it sounds like Bertie) is a victim of the alarmingly popular US spectator sport of humiliation by TV chat show. Thrust unwittingly into this cruel arena, she is informed by her best friend and her husband that they have been having an affair for over a year. How does anyone recover from such a devastating blow? Birdee packs the station wagon and, with her confused little daughter, Bernice, drives from Chicago home to Texas, to Mom, and the town where Birdee was formerly 'prom Queen' winner three years running while at school.
This is a great film for recognising the unsung hero of many a contemporary family crisis, namely, Grandma. In this case Grandma is a cockeyed optimist with a bizarre occupation (best line of film: 'I love all God's creatures, but I love some better stuffed' gives you the clue!) The rest of the film traces the recovery of both Birdee and Bernice. Grandma's philosophy is that hope (nominally a Christian virtue) always rises to the surface, if you let it. Birdee (and Bernice) take some time to recognise this. Anger, self-loathing, apathy and escapism are among Birdee's responses.
