Where the Heart is
4 Stars out of 4
By Paul Touchstone
May 18, 2000
"Where the Heart is" is very "heart"-warming movie that makes you feel good that Hollywood still makes good movies.
Starring the beautiful Natalie Portman as Novalee, she has recently found herself pregnant by her Tennessee trailer park boyfriend. He wants to go to California, so she follows him. Along the way, they stop at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. When Novalee leaves the store, she finds her boyfriend has left her. But she finds friends in the small town and soon has a baby girl, named Americus Nation (ironic isn't it?). Novalee is taken in by Sister Husband (that's the character's real name, and she is a homemaker, not a nun), played wonderfully by Stockard Channing. Ashley Judd stars as Lexie Coop, Novalee's nurse when she is in the hospital after having Americus. Lexie and Novalee become best friends. The rest of the movie continues the next few years in Novalee's life.
"Where the Heart is" is good because of its unpredictability and utterly realistic portrayal of life. It was filmed around the great city of Austin, Texas and in the Texas Hill Country, which looks very similar to Oklahoma. Also, it shows both the highs and the lows of life, making us feel like we're not the only ones in the world who have to deal with the lows in life. This is a great movie and I recommend it to everyone. Go see it in the theater!
Rated PG-13 for language and violence (a scene of domestic violence). 120 minutes.
Las Movies is owned by Paul Touchstone. � Copyright 2000 Paul Touchstone, All Rights Reserved.