Paul Newman’s Oscar-Nominated Thanksgiving Movie Is a Must-Watch Highlight of His Later Career

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There tend to not be as many great films about the Thanksgiving season when compared to other major calendar holidays, such as Halloween or Christmas. Halloween offers the opportunity for many great horror films, and Christmas has enough built-in mythology and traditions to inspire a wide variety of stories; comparatively, Thanksgiving often relies upon the dynamics within a family, which can be radically different based on personal experience. However, Robert Benton’s underrated dramedy Nobody’s Fool took a nuanced look at why it can be so uncomfortable to gather with various relatives for a big meal once a year. While there’s a lot to love about the film, Nobody’s Fool is remembered as a Thanksgiving classic thanks to the Oscar-nominated performance by Paul Newman.

What Is ‘Nobody’s Fool’ About?

Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Richard Russo, Nobody’s Fool stars Newman as the stubborn construction contract worker Donald Sullivan, who is known to his friends as “Sully.” Sully spends most of his free time with friends at a local bar and is locked in a bitter feud with the local contractor Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis), whose wife Toby (Melanie Griffith) he occasionally skirts with. Despite being an older man, Sully seems to be in a permanent state of arrested development. However, Sully’s seemingly quiet life outside of New York City is disrupted when his estranged son Peter (Dylan Walsh) arrives in town and reveals that he is in the midst of a broken marriage with his wife. As Sully attempts to provide Peter with the sort of guidance that he was never able to give him growing up, he also finds himself becoming a mentor to his young grandchild, Will (Alexander Goodwin).

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Benton may not be a household name in the way that other Newman collaborators like Sam Mendes or Sidney Lumet are, but he is a very respected filmmaker with a talent for cracking “slice of life” stories, as evidenced by acclaimed hits such as Kramer vs. Kramer and Places in the Heart. Nobody’s Fool goes out of its way to paint an authentic portrayal of small-town life and shows how the mundanity of doing the same thing every day can put a character like Sully in a position where he is not able to evolve. Sully is a character who chose to avoid responsibilities earlier on in his life and has never looked back and considered what he could have done differently. Benton uses Thanksgiving as an excuse to put Sully on a route of rediscovery and redemption; while he refuses to sand off the edges that make him such an amusing character, Newman shows an emotional earnestness in his performance as Sully that makes him worth investing in as a protagonist.

‘Nobody’s Fool’ Shows a Sensitive Side to Paul Newman

Nobody’s Fool came at a later stage in Newman’s career, as he had already won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Martin Scorsese’s legacy sequel The Color of Money — a prize that many have referred to as a “career trophy.” While Newman is often associated with the calm, charismatic anti-heroes of the “New Hollywood” era, Nobody’s Fool gave him the opportunity to play a flawed character who does some pretty egregious things. Newman is genuinely nasty, embittered, and selfish early on in the film, particularly in the instances in which Sully tries to ignore his familial responsibilities. This makes it even more surprising to see Sully genuinely decide to change his outlook on life, as the film has proven that spending time with his family has given him a reason to change the way he operates.

Nobody’s Fool finds a unique blend between awkward, dark comedy and genuine sensitivity, a tone that would have been hard to pull off had it not been for Newman’s terrific performance. A film that puts so much emphasis on paternal relationships could have very easily become far too saccharine for its own good, but Newman shows genuine cheekiness when the film threatens to be too wholesome. While it’s not as instantly iconic as classics like The Sting or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Nobody’s Fool gave Newman the chance to deliver an undisputed classic within the niche genre of “Thanksgiving movies.”

Nobody’s Fool

Release Date: December 23, 1994
Director: Robert Benton
Cast: Paul Newman , Bruce Willis , Melanie Griffith , Jessica Tandy , Dylan Walsh , Pruitt Taylor Vince , Gene Saks , Josef Sommer , Philip Seymour Hoffman , Philip Bosco , Catherine Dent , Alexander Goodwin , Carl J. Matusovich , Jay Patterson , Jerry Mayer , Angela Pietropinto , Alice Drummond , Margo Martindale , Angelica Page , Richard Mawe , Joe Paparone
Runtime: 110 Minutes
Main Genre: Drama