WHERE THE HEART IS A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 2000 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
If home is where the heart is, then Novalee Nation's home is the rambling, timber-framed ranch house she builds in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. Yet Novalee did not spring from such lavish roots.
Pregnant and penniless in her tender teenage years, Novalee and her fly-by-night boyfriend Willy Jack Pickens do what many pregnant and penniless Tennessee teenagers do--head out to California with its promise of a new life and new opportunities. Instead, Novalee's dream is shattered when Willy Jack abandons her at a wayside Wal-Mart, and it's at that Wal-Mart, during the last of many illegal sleepovers, that Novalee's baby is born.
Her "Wal-Mart baby" becomes the toast of Sequoyah and, upon the advice of the store's resident photographer, Novalee gives her daughter a strong name: Americus.
This is just the beginning for Novalee, and just the beginning of "Where the Heart Is," one of those "dramadies" that follows many years--here it's about five--in the life of its protagonist, watching her grow, be challenged, fail, fall, love and learn, and all that Big Stuff that confronts us on our journey through the backroads--and the Wal-Mart parking lots--of life. And "Where the Heart Is" is indeed a journey full of ups and down. So many ups and downs, in fact, that the movie soon settles into a predictable pattern--good stuff happens, bad stuff happens, good stuff happens, etc. A little variety from the screenwriters would have helped.
That screenplay, by the team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel ("Father's Day," "A League of Their Own," "Splash"), is based on the best-selling novel by Billie Letts, and is often times guilty of succumbing to forced humor, predictable outcomes, and unnecessary contrivances (Novalee's illogical fear of the number five, for example).
But the film is saved time and time again by some deft direction by newcomer Matt Williams and many exemplary performances, none the least of which is Natalie Portman as Novalee.
Portman carries the weight of the film on her young shoulders and its a lot to ask of the 18-year old, who until now has mainly played supporting roles (in such films as "Beautiful Girls," "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace," and the recent "Anywhere But Here"). "Where the Heart Is" is her film through and through, and even though the writing is a little schizophrenic at times, she couldn't ask for a finer supporting cast. Complementing Portman is a wonderful ensemble of actresses who take potentially clichéd roles and turn them into characters brimming with life and vitality.
There's Stockard Channing as Sister Husband who takes Novalee in--weather-beaten, maternal, alcoholic; Ashley Judd as Novalee's ever-pregnant friend and confidante, Lexie--Judd grows into her character well; Joan Cusack as a hard-boiled talent agent who hooks up with Willy Jack--it's a small part but a good one; and Sally Field as Novalee's worthless, state-fleeing mother. All four are excellent, and Field is probably better in her one scene here than in her last ten movies put together! Yes, there are men in this movie, but they simply cannot compete.
Is "Where the Heart Is" a chick flick? Sure. But it's also a better than average film that should appeal to just about anyone with a heart beating in their breast.
-- David N. Butterworth dnb@dca.net
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