sandra bullock was once a great , well-known actress . for a while , she was one of the best ones around . lately , she hasn't been doing all that well . the only movie she has done in awhile is speed 2 : cruise control , which was a huge mistake for her career . now , she shapes up with hope floats , the story of a woman and the many problems she goes through . harry connick jr , gena rowlands , and mae whitman co-star as the people closest to birdee , played by sandra bullock . birdee was the most popular girl at her school . she was prom queen , everyone looked up to her , and she was truly happy . a few years after high school , she got married to a friend from high school , bill pruitt , played by michael pare . on a national talk show , birdee's best friend connie , played by rosanna arquette , reveals that she has been having an affair with bill , birdee's husband . they have been having the affair for over a year . bill wants to marry connie now . birdee and her daughter bernice , played by mae whitman , are extremely saddened . they move to smithville , texas , where birdee went to high school . they go to live with birdee's mother , ramona calvert , played by gena rowlands . ramona is there to help birdee with her feelings and the problems she is going through . it is kind of nice for birdee to be back in the town that she grew up in . she is greeted by many people that she has no idea who they are as she walks along the streets of smithville . she goes to the employment agency to get a job , and runs into two more people that she knew in high school . she gets a job as a worker at a one hour photo store . she runs into even more people there as they come in and out of the store to get their pictures developed . she messes up a lot of pictures , and she almost loses her job . justin matisse , played by harry connick jr , was very close to birdee in high school . justin has been helping out ramona around the house for a number of years . birdee and justin are reunited at the house . at first , birdee is uncomfortable seeing him , but she gets used to him and they become close friends once again . bernice does not like justin at all , and is determined to get back with her real dad . bernice is now starting school , and everyone makes fun of her because of her glasses . she even gets beaten up . she is extremely upset by the whole thing , and wants to go back to leaving with her dad . justin and birdee become closer throughout the movie , and they start to date . ramona hooks them up as good as she can , and she succeeds . birdee is still very upset about the entire episode with bill , and isn't quite ready to start a new relationship . justin is becoming frustrated with birdee , because she is not willing to move on from the man that betrayed her . she is finally willing to move on , and for once things are starting to go right in her life . she is becoming very happy with justin , but there is a problem . bernice is not very pleasant any more due to justin . she is extremely angry at her mother for the break up with bill . bernice blames the entire thing on birdee . hope floats is a realistic tale of what one can go through throughout their lives . birdee goes through tragedy after tragedy , and finally becomes happy because she keeps her hopes high . sandra bullock does a great job of acting , and you could really believe the pain that she was going through . gena rowlands does an outstanding job as her mother , and deserves on oscar nomination for best supporting actress . mae whitman gives a powerful performance . she was stuck in a tough spot , and didn't know how to deal with it . harry connick jr . is the movie's only problem . he makes it so it is more of a fairy tale than a real life experience . the film is still good with him , but the role of justin matisse could have beem cut down a little bit . all in all , hope still floats for sandra bullock's career after this film . 
