Where the Heart Is

For the first 1:15 or so, I was really enjoying this sweet and funny movie about a young girl (Novalee, played by Natalie Portman) dealing with being pregnant and unmarried, who is abandoned by her boyfriend (Dylan Bruno) and takes up residence (unknown to anyone) in a local Wal-Mart. After giving birth to the baby in the store, she is swindled and abandoned by her mother (Sally Field) but survives and flourishes thanks to the kindness of some rather eccentric strangers.

So far, so good. Very enjoyable. But the last 45 minutes or so really unravelled rather quickly. I questioned the need to continually bring us back to Willie Jack's (the baby's father) attempts to get a singing career going. None of his scenes really served to advance the plot in any way, and quite frankly, the guy was a loser who abandoned his pregnant girlfriend. I didn't care what happened to him - even though some of what happened was poetic justice - and the movie could have been shortened by 20 or 30 minutes - without losing a thing - if all his scenes had been simply cut. I also felt that it was totally unnecessary to include (albeit - thankfully - only for a few minutes) a theme about child molestation. Where did that come from and why? It made a relatively enjoyable movie very heavy, and it was a heaviness that - for me at least - never really disappeared. The end of the movie (revolving around the relationship between Novalee and Forney (James Frain) was also telegraphed quite early on.

Having made those criticisms, the real highlight of the movie for me was Natalie Portman as Novalee. I wasn't familiar with this young actress until now, but she was marvellously cast as the sweet, innocent, naive young Novalee, and then showed a wonderful capacity to show her character evolve into a mature and independent young woman. (I have to say that, while the movie seemed to be trying to say she was a great mother, she seemed to spend a lot of time away from little Americus, but that's a minor point.) Portman was excellent, and I will look forward to seeing her again.

This rates a 6/10. Would have been higher, except for the weak second half.

A harmless little "chick flick"? Nothing more than an attempt by Natalie Portman to try anything before she's pigeon-holed in her Star Wars persona and can't get other roles because of it (a la Mark Hamill)? No, on both counts. Where the Heart Is will surely be labeled as a "chick flick", but the truth is that a good movie is a good movie, and a bad one a bad one, regardless of what its target demographic is. Where the Heart Is is nothing short of a very, very good film. The story is original and the acting and dialogue are outstanding. Natlie Portman may best be known as Queen Amidala, but she should be known as one of the best young actresses in the business. She simply shines in this movie. I recommend this film to everyone.

Natalie Portman is superb here. If there is anything that this actress is brilliant at, it's giving thankless characters a lot of emotional depth. This film is intelligent and well made, that is often moving. It isn't the best movie I have ever seen, but there are a lot of things that I really liked about this movie. There was some detailed direction, but it is the performances from the likes of Stockard Channing, Ashley Judd, Joan Cusack and Sally Field, that take centre stage. The principal characters are well developed and meaningful, however I do have two complaints of this movie. One is that it is overlong, and sometimes drags with the subplots. Secondly, the uneven script disallows the more minor characters to fully develop as they should do. Still, it is a well performed and well intended film, that I will award a 8/10. Bethany Cox.

This is one of those movies where you feel "all is right with the world" when it's over. It is inspirational - in the midst of the violence and profanity that occurs in life, it reminds you that there are still good, honest and decent people. I admire the fact that a wonderful movie was created without nudity, very little violence or excess profanity (were there 4-letter words in the movie?). I admit, it's somewhat of a fantasy that good things happen only to good people and bad things to bad people - but it makes you feel good about the outcome all the same.

The journey that Natalie Portman's role makes in this film, from start to finish, is an inspiring one. The movie isn't a light comedy or a cheesy chick flick, but it also isn't too deep and dark either; it finds a middle ground. There's romance, the struggles of life, the deep issues of self worth, and people being there when you need them most. This film will leave you with a good feeling at the end!