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Where the Heart Is (2000)
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Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:5
Rotten:20
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: Poor script and messy plot undermines the decent cast.
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis:
A bathroom stop en route, at an Oklahoma Wal-Mart, changes Novalee's life forever. For when she leaves the store, she discovers that Willy Jack and the Plymouth are gone. Only her Polaroid camera...
A bathroom stop en route, at an Oklahoma Wal-Mart, changes Novalee's life forever. For when she leaves the store, she discovers that Willy Jack and the Plymouth are gone. Only her Polaroid camera remains in the parking space.
Alone and broke, Novalee surreptitiously moves into the vast store, borrowing food and supplies from its shelves. When she gives birth on the floor - and her hideaway is revealed - Novalee and her "Wal-Mart Baby" become instant celebrities. More importantly, over the next few years, Novalee finally becomes part of an unconventional, makeshift family comprised of her wonderfully eccentric new friends.
Now, with the family she always wanted, Novalee is transformed from a homeless teen to a successful and strong woman. She has finally found a home in this small town where fate has dropped her. -- © 20th Century Fox
Starring: Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing, Joan Cusack
Starring: Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing, Joan Cusack, Sally Field, James Frain, Dylan Bruno, Keith David, Mackenzie Fitzgerald
Director: Matt Williams
Director: Matt Williams
Screenwriter: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Producer: Patricia Whitcher, Matt Williams, Susan Cartsonis, David McFadzean
Composer: Mason Daring
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Reviews for Where the Heart Is
Not possessing much in the way of a character arc, saints are boring to watch and impossible to act.
The scenes feel forced, producing episodic plotting and calling attention to the characters' superficiality.
A veritable ventricular chamber orchestra of emotional manipulations and easy virtues.
The filmmakers have crafted a motion picture that should appeal to members of both sexes.
It's too bad [Portman and Frain's] contributions, and those of many others, drown in a big glop of treacle.
A swamp of clichés, contrivances, and cheap ham-and-cheese hero sentimentality.
The moronic script by Lowell Ganz and 'Babaloo' Mandel has all the subtlety of a Hee Haw reunion and more schmaltz than a Catskills retirement home.
The movie isn't all that much -- it's too cloyingly ramshackle -- but Portman isn't playing down to her character this time around.
Serves up the usual homilies, but it lacks the quirky density and cinematic snap of, for instance, Jonathan Demme in his Melvin and Howard period.
Latest News for Where the Heart Is
March 31, 2005:
Jason Patric Proves Himself a "Walker"
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 67% 67% | Public Enemies |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 95% 95% | The Cove |
| 85% 85% | World's Greatest Dad |
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