WHERE THE HEART IS (2000) / ** 1/2
Directed by Matt Williams. Screenplay by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, based on the novel by Billie Letts. Starring Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing. Running time: 122 minutes. Rated AA by the MFCB. Reviewed on May 11th, 2000.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
There are some movies which, on a purely aesthetic level, you know you shouldn't really enjoy, but which are blessed with such charm that you do anyway. "Where The Heart Is" is this kind of movie. Its storyline lacks creativity and is sometimes hard to swallow, its dialogue is for the most part only serviceable, its direction is fair but undistinguished. But its characterisation is fun and unusual, and the performances of its cast -- especially stars Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd -- are so endearing that it's hard not to leave the theatre with a grin on your face.
Novalee Nation (Portman) is a pregnant teenager who leaves her Oklahoma home to head to California with boyfriend and would-be country music star Willy Jack (Dylan Bruno). On the way, they stop at a Wal-Mart so that Novalee can use the washroom. She returns to the parking lot only to find that Willy Jack has abandoned her. Alone, penniless, and well into her third trimester, Novalee hides out in the Wal-Mart until her baby is born. In the meantime, she meets some of the locals, including a recovering alcoholic named Sister Husband (Stockard Channing) and Forney, the eccentric librarian (James Frain).
Finally, in an unexpectedly stark scene, Novalee gives birth. In the hospital, she befriends nurse Lexie Coop (Judd) who is also an unmarried mother, though in her case her brood numbers four (all named after candy bars). Acting on a suggestion to give her daughter a strong, meaningful name, Novalee calls her Americus. (You'll notice the movie's penchant for bizarre phenomenology; and I haven't mentioned other characters like Moses Whitecotten or Mr Sprock!)
The rest of "Where The Heart Is" tells the story of Novalee and her new friends as she comes to find her place in the world. Covering five years, the film alternates between good, solid character development and an unfortunate tendency to substitute incident for real characterisation. Some sequences are genuine and amusing, like the formative stages of Novalee's burgeoning career as a photographer, or her keeping accounting of every little thing she has borrowed from the Wal-Mart she makes her temporary home. But others are obvious and clumsy plot devices. One unlikely scene, for example, sees Novalee nearly being swept into a tornado, clinging to a slowly disintegrating staircase and trying to save Americus at the same time. (I kept expecting Helen Hunt or Bill Paxton to show up, myself.)
As a result, "Where The Heart Is" has a somewhat disjointed, episodic feel to it. To be fair, I do wonder if this may be partly a consequence of trying to condense Billie Letts' novel down to a two-hour screenplay. But in the end, I wished the movie had spent less time on glaring set pieces and played more often to its strength, which is the often unusual, sometimes unexpected, but always very human incidents which color our days. "Your life can change in a breath," Novalee tells Lexie at one point. But those changes are rarely major show pieces, and sometimes "Where The Heart Is" seems to forget that.
It is somewhat astonishing to realise that "Where The Heart Is" is Natalie Portman's first leading role. Less surprising, however, is that she handles the extra duties with typical aplomb, despite the fact that Novalee may be one of her more difficult assignments. Many of Portman's characters in the past have been preternaturally intelligent or mature: Queen Amidala in "The Phantom Menace", Ann August in "Anywhere But Here" and Marty in "Beautiful Girls" all spring to mind. Novalee, on the other hand, is a character who has not had the opportunity to cultivate her intelligence, nor who innately possesses considerable maturity. Consequently, she represents a different sort of challenge for Portman, who has to let Novalee slowly develop these characteristics over the course of the movie. In successfully doing so, Portman demonstrates once again why she is one of Hollywood's most talented actresses. (Portman has reportedly decided against doing any more movies other than the next two "Star Wars" instalments until her undergraduate education is complete. With doubt, Hollywood's loss is academia's gain.)
Also superb is Ashley Judd as Lexie. It would have been easy to make Lexie just a slightly older version of Novalee, but Judd carves her own niche, bringing to the proceedings an infectious enthusiasm which belies her deeply troubled character. Lexie is the unlucky sort of woman who is always looking for Mr Right but only manages to find Mr Wrong. The end result is four kids (and more as the movie proceeds). Judd conveys the difficulty of her life while still maintaining a believable, indeed admirable, positive outlook. This makes Lexie particularly endearing, and the rollercoaster she endures as the film unfolds truly involving.
The supporting cast is also very good. Frain finds just the right note as Novalee's friend and would-be lover, neither under- nor over-indulging in his character's idiosyncrasies. Despite limited screen time, Bruno brings Willy Jack to life, wisely portraying him as immature and misguided rather than out-and-out rotten. Indeed, I found myself at times wishing Willy Jack's story had earned a little more of the spotlight; it would make a fascinating movie in its own right. Similarly underutilised is Joan Cusack as Willy Jack's tough-as-nails agent Ruth Meyers. Indeed, the only disappointing performance is from Channing, whose Sister Husband is surprisingly bland and uninteresting.
Although it is certainly a flawed movie, I nonetheless find myself recommending "Where The Heart Is". It's not often a movie can succeed so totally on the basis of its characters, but that is the case here. Many will find the film's unlikely elements off-putting, and I am hard-pressed to disagree. But this is the kind of movie that is best watched with your brain in the "off" position. Its target is the audience's heart, and in this respect it hits a bulls-eye.
Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/WhereTheHeartIs.html
-- _______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | shannon@mun.ca | are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde | \___________________________|__________________________________________/ | Popcorn Gallery Movie Reviews www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | | Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) /drwho.html |
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