Literature-quoting lazy drama about a teen girl and two older boozers living in a hovel in New Orleans

A poor, precocious 18 year-old woman (Scarlett Johansson) returns to New Orleans after the death of her estranged mother where she inherits a dilapidated house in the low-income section with two co-heir strangers: A quirky ex-English professor (John Travolta) and his wannabe-writer mentee (Gabriel Macht), both alcoholics in a foggy melancholy. As the story progresses, the truth is slowly revealed.

“A Love Song for Bobby Long” (2004) is a sluggish, sometimes humorous drama set in The Big Easy with lotsa poetry & prose, as well as jazz, blues and folk. It’s very literature-quoting in the manner of flicks like “Dead Poets Society” (1989), “Finding Forrester” (2000), “The Squid and the Whale” (2005) and numerous Woody Allen flicks.

While the story is lethargic and lacks the drive of “Dead Poets Society,” there’s something to be said for an intelligent American film that dares to take its time and is filled with verbiage that assumes the viewer is well-read. Plus the story perks up in the final act and cutie Johansson is always a pleasure.

The movie runs 1 hour, 59 minutes and was shot in New Orleans & Gretna, Louisiana.

GRADE: B-/C+