Where the Heart Is

Starring: Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing, James Frain, Joan Cusack, Sally Field, Dylan Bruno, Keith David
Directed by: Matt Williams
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
2000

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary:
A pregnant girl (Natalie Portman) is abandoned by her boyfriend (Dylan Bruno), and secretly lives in a Wal-Mart, as she has no where else to go.

Review:

Tim: I'm actually surprised that I really did enjoy Where the Heart Is. This movie isn't exactly the type of film I expected to like, but it surprised me. It is a romantic dramedy, but it does all three of these areas quite well. There's some truly dramatic moments in the film. There's some very humorous, enjoyable moments as well. And, just for good measure, there's a good deal of romance as well. This film might not be great, but it's a solid film that surprised me with its quality.

I am very impressed with the extent of the story. It's certainly unique, and it crams a lot of different elements all together. It occasionally felt a bit cluttered, but director Matt Williams manages to make all these elements work. We have a pregnant girl who is living in a Wal-Mart. We have a redneck hillbilly jerk who wants to be a country music singer. We have tornadoes, pedophiles, train accidents, thieving mothers, and so much more. The film takes all these crazy elements and makes them work together in one, crazy yet believable story. Yes, this was made possible because of the novel upon which it was based, but the story is interesting, different, and it held my interest. That was impressive.

The cast is quite good, too. Natalie Portman gives a very interesting performance. She is quite strong in the film. The protagonist is complex- on the one hand, she's an uneducated, silly, naive girl. And yet, we somehow find ourselves rooting for her and actually caring about her. This is due to Portman's performance. Her character makes a pretty amazing transformation throughout the course of the film, and Portman made this feel natural. She carries this film, and I was impressed with her performance. This is definitely Portman's movie.

I liked Ashley Judd here, too. I do feel like she could have used a little more screen time. She was very good in her supporting role. There's a few scenes where she is absolutely heartbreaking, and really shows off her acting talent. Stockard Channing's character felt a bit out there, but she gave an entertaining performance. It was fun watching her interact with Portman. Joan Cusack had a small role, but it was quite strong. I really liked seeing Sally Field here, but her role was just too small. Keith David also added in a strong performance. I did not exactly like James Frain here. I thought he was average, and represented one of the weaker aspects of the whole film. I didn't hate his performance, but we needed a better actor in this role.

This movie was pretty brave. It would have been easy to make this a lightweight, throwaway movie. Luckily, there was some real depth to this film. The main story is about an uneducated redneck who is pregnant out of wedlock. That's not exactly the typical Hollywood heroine. We also have a subplot involving a pedophile, which was shocking, but I appreciated the gritty realism of something most people prefer to ignore. We have characters die, we have characters make stupid mistakes, and make them again. The film was really free of much of the typical Hollywood bull. I loved that aspect of the movie.

While Where the Heart Is isn't my favorite movie, it is a solid, worthwhile film. It featured far more depth than the typical romantic dramedy. I really appreciated this film having heart, and featuring an unlikely cast of characters. This film has its flaws (the whole thing did feel a bit far-fetched), but as a whole, it was refreshingly good.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Anywhere But Here, Garden State, Simon Birch