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Where the Heart Is
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing |
| MPAA Rated: |
PG-13 |
| Released By: |
20th
Century Fox
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| Web Site: |
www.wheretheheartismovie.com
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| Kiddie Movie: |
She'll bring you along because you made her see
"U-571."
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| Date Movie: |
The teenage girls in front of me got bored.
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| Gratuitous Sex: |
Nah.
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| Gratuitous
Violence: |
Talked about, and Lexie gets a shiner.
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| Action: |
A scary tornado scene.
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| Laughs: |
Some chuckles here and there.
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| Memorable
Scene: |
Nah.
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| Memorable
Quote: |
Nah.
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| Directed By: |
Matt Williams
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| Produced By: |
Susan Cartsonis, David McFadzean, Patricia
Whitcher
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Where the Heart Is
A Movie Review |
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I had many thoughts as I was leaving "Where the Heart
Is." One was that I still like Ashley Judd. Another was that
I still think Natalie Portman has a killer smile. Another
was that I want to find the Wal-Mart with such lax security.
Another was that "Where the Heart Is" was a pretty decent
movie. And lastly, who came up with names in this movie?
Maybe it’s my Catholic, northern upbringing, but what
kind of names are Novalee, played by Natalie Portman,
Americus as Novalee’s baby, Sister Husband (Stockard
Channing), the kind-hearted lady who takes Novalee in, and
Forney (James Frain), Novalee’s love interest. I focus
on the weirdest things sometimes.
Anyway, "Where the Heart Is" tells Novalee’s story,
and her baby’s father’s story (Willy Jack Pickens
played by Dylan Bruno), in a series of forward progressions
following the lives of the both of them from the moment they
go off together, to the time Willy Jack leaves her at
Wal-Mart, to the time they find each other again. Willy
Jack’s path is simple – he picks up a teenager,
ends up in jail, tries to be a singer, and ends up still a
loser. Novalee’s path is simple too – she lives in
Wal-Mart for a little while, has a baby, gets befriended by
Lexie (Ashley Judd) who has no luck with men but is a
baby-making machine, and ends just her liking living in a
small town. Sure, there are other things in the movie, like
the struggles of being a single mom, pedophiles, crazy bible
people, a corrupt music industry, dealing with mentally
challenged siblings, mother nature's wrath, and love.
How’s that for a movie?
I won’t go into "Where the Heart Is" too much, but
it is a nice story with a couple of neat twists thrown in,
but from the reaction of the two teenage girls in front of
me in the theater, it’s about 20 minutes too long and
didn’t need the pedophile story. Why do I say that?
Because with about 20 minutes left to go they became
disinterested in the movie and decided that throwing popcorn
back and forth at each other was more interesting than
Novalee finally realizing who she really loved. Maybe they
lost interest because the movie kept going back and forth
between Novalee and Willy Jack, which, as I thought about
it, after Willy Jack left Novalee at the Wal-Mart, I could
have cared less about the loser. Or maybe they lost interest
because the ending was pretty obvious (not the ending I
would have made – the more realistic one of Novalee
going back with Willy Jack and him still treating her like
shit because that’s what nice girls like Novalee do
– keep going back to the assholes.) So, in the end it
became just another movie with a happy ending.
And on that note I’ll give "Where the Heart Is" 3
½ stars out of 5. There was some potential for kicking
it up a notch or two, but in the end it was just a nice
movie.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the
Right!! L8R!!! |
