R E V I E W S

Where The Heart Is (2000)

Starring: Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing, Joan Cusack, James Frain, Dylan Bruno, Keith David

Director: Matt Williams
Rating: PG-13

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Review Posted: Unknown

Rating: 6/10

By Sheila Danzig.

In Where the Heart Is, we have a trite, predictable, silly story that seemed to well enough to be make for an enjoyable movie experience.

I think it worked in part because of the wonderful performance by Natalie Portman, and in part because of the wonderful character that she plays, Novalee Nation.

Nation is a scared pregnant teenager, off to California with her selfish boyfriend Willy Jack Pickens (Dylan Bruno), in a car that needed to be junked some time ago. He leaves her at Wal-Mart, with nothing but house slippers, $5.55 and a Polaroid camera, where she lives for six weeks and then gives birth to her daughter, Americus, turning her into an overnight celebrity as the "Wal-Mart Mom."

Along the way she befriends Lexie (Ashley Judd), who keeps having babies while trying to find someone to be the father of her children, Sister Husband (Stockard Channing), a big-hearted, sexually active recovering alcoholic, and Forney (James Frain), who runs the town library.

What makes the story work is that most of the characters are all very well developed, and that our heroine, is fresh and sincere in her approach to life. It is an enjoyable film that you don’t have to run out and see, but that you should catch on video or cable.

I give this movie a 6 out of 10, I looked at my watch once, and I would not see it again.

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