Hope Floats | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

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Where to Watch Hope Floats What to Know Critics Reviews Audience Reviews My Rating Cast & Crew More Like This Photos Hope Floats References

27%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

72%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Birdee Pruitt (Sandra Bullock) has been humiliated on live television by her best friend, Connie (Rosanna Arquette), who's been sleeping with Birdee's husband, Bill (Michael Paré). Birdee tries starting over with her daughter, Bernice (Mae Whitman), by returning to her small Texas hometown, but she's faced with petty old acquaintances who are thrilled to see Birdee unhappy -- except for her friend Justin (Harry Connick Jr.). As he helps Birdee get back on her feet, love begins to blossom.

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Hope Floats

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Critics Consensus

Hope Floats sinks under a deluge of melodramatic turns and syrupy sentimentality, although Sandra Bullock remains a winning star.

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Critics Reviews

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Xan Brooks

Independent (UK)

A winsome piece that turns a loving eye on Sandra Bullock as a down-in-the-dumps ex-beauty queen.

Mar 29, 2019

Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: C-

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Globe and Mail

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 12, 2002

Full Review

Carly Kocurek

Common Sense Media

Redemptive drama ready made for family viewing.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 1, 2011

Full Review

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

... just horrible, horrible, horrible.

Rated: D-

Jan 27, 2005

Full Review

Dragan Antulov

rec.arts.movies.reviews

Rated: 2/10

Jul 26, 2004

Full Review

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Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Good drama that makes you cry Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/09/24 Full Review EllaJo r Great job and this cute sad and then happy movie, kinda wish you could have played out more of her first marriage to get everyone more shocked. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/24/24 Full Review Melanie V This movie is one of my all time favorites of Sandra Bullock. Speed, 28 days, hope floats, miss congeniality, lost city, and more. Every movie she is in, is a smash hit. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/17/24 Full Review Jenna R So cheesy, absolutely no plot. There were so many loose ends and unexplained turns of events, I couldn't form a connection with any of the characters. Rated 1/5 Stars • Rated 1 out of 5 stars 12/25/23 Full Review Anthony D Bullock and Gena Rowlands pull it off Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/20/23 Full Review A T A 90's classic. Has all the feels and reminds us that beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/08/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Hope Floats

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Cast & Crew

Forest Whitaker Director Sandra Bullock Birdie Pruitt Harry Connick Jr. Justin Matisse Gena Rowlands Ramona Calvert Mae Whitman Bernice Pruitt Michael Paré Bill Pruitt

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Photos

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Hope Floats

Hope Floats (1998)

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Synopsis Birdee Pruitt (Sandra Bullock) has been humiliated on live television by her best friend, Connie (Rosanna Arquette), who's been sleeping with Birdee's husband, Bill (Michael Paré). Birdee tries starting over with her daughter, Bernice (Mae Whitman), by returning to her small Texas hometown, but she's faced with petty old acquaintances who are thrilled to see Birdee unhappy -- except for her friend Justin (Harry Connick Jr.). As he helps Birdee get back on her feet, love begins to blossom.

Director: Forest Whitaker
Producer: Lynda Obst
Screenwriter: Steven Rogers
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox, Fortis Films
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 29, 1998, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $60.0M
Runtime: 1h 54m
Sound Mix: Surround

References

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hope_floats