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Anywhere But Here

Anywhere But Here

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: good!
Review: I liked this movie was ok. It was kind of slow. They had some really good parts that I thought were cute. But the daughter just really got on my nerves with all the crying. Other than that the movie was ok.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An honest portrayal of one family's upheaval
Review: . . . and the coming together of two very different people. Ann (Natalie Portman) is the thoughtful, serious and reserved 14 year old daughter of Adele August (colourful, outgoing and vibrant) middle aged woman who just never can settle down. Ann resents the continuous upheaval and inconsistency in her life and finds little friendship with her "eccentric" mother who pulls her from one place to another. Ann is more the parent in this fiery drama and she resents the fact her mother forgets to pay bills on time and rushes into everything with little thought of aftermath or feelings. Through it all you can see the gradual realization from both mother and daughter that they really do need each other and the ending is beautiful and satisfying if not a little sad.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good acting but boring!
Review: Same scenes- the apartment where both lives their life. I think the movie is not clear in several things. First is about Anne's father. I don't know why they really break up. Well, I can guess but I am not sure about it. Second is about the fact that Anne's friend changes a lot. Why does she change? Or, I am not clear on how come her friend says Anne changes. Both mother and Anne have really good shots.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: There is a thin line between love and hate...
Review: It has become perhaps the most familiar and well-versed line which has emanated forth from the mouths of celebrities and pedestrians alike-- "been there, done that." And it is this line which has epitomized the film "Anywhere But Here," a heartwarming account of childhood innocence and a desire for independence.

It has been a passing phase of life which every individual has undergone-- the emotionally and physically trying years of puberty and adolescence, the burning desire to break free from the bonds of parental control-- to become and mold the individual which each person holds upon a pedestal in his/her mind. In an attempt to illustrate this tumultous period, Director Wayne Wang has stepped into the limelight with a story about a young teenage girl Ann August (Natalie Portman) and her often eccentric mother Adele (Susan Sarandon). In a heartwarming and discrete manner, Wang depicts the love-hate relationship between the two women as both attempt to tackle the struggles associated with everyday life together, sharing their joys, sorrows, troubles and happiness in a way that only two individuals as close as them can do. Undoubtedly, as a majority of individuals know, heated arguments arose between the the mother and daughter, which were almost always resolved in cascades of tears and remorse.

But it was not the resolution of conflicts which made the biggest impact on me-- instead, it was the daughter's struggle to develop a seal, a bond, a closure to her confused past and confused life. Having been a child of divorced parents and now stuck in the abyss of adolescence, Ann struggled not only to come to terms with her past, but lived in the dilemma of seeking independence from the only person who understood her the most-- her mother. It was heartwrenching to see the split emotions which Ann held-- should she remain with her mother or establish her own life? This has and always will be a difficult question to answer, even for the most bravehearted adolescent. The adolescent years are tantamount to a bird, beating its wings against the bars of a cage, attempting to seek sweet freedom but never seeming to be able to do so.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: What if things had not changed?
Review: I noticed that the effects of Ann if she had not moved to Beverly Hills arises in the changes in her best friend Mary (Thora Birch). Mary was a sweet girl when Ann moved to Beverly Hills, and when Ann came back under unfortunate circumstances, Mary had changed...she smoked and dressed different. It shows us a clue how Ann could have changed into if she didn't move from Bay City. I wish Thora Birch was in it more, but on the other hand, her character wasn't relevant to the movie other than this p.o.v.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Mother and Daughter Movie!
Review: Anywhere But Here is a great movie for mothers and daughters. It stars Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman. Portman plays a 14 year-old girl moving with her mother, Sarandon to Beverly Hills. It is a great mother, daughter movie!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Anywhere but Here...
Review: Well I want to congratulate Natalie Portman. She acted superbly. The flanctuations in her emotional attributes were perfect. She is a very good actor. I never believed that she was that good, I mean when I saw in an interview she gave that she loved maths cause there exists a solution(hope she did not mean also a unique one :) I knew she was orthologic. But when I saw her acting in this movie then I realized that this girl is unique. Very nice acting.

About Sarandon no comment. I know her acting and she is just amazing in every movie she makes.

A close look at the film. Sarandon(Adele) plays the role of a mother who was fed up with her mediocre eastern life and jumped in an old Mercedez literaly kidnapping her daugter(Ann=Portman) from her eastern memories and dreams of a simple and ordinary life. So they went to Beverly Hills, the place where everything can come true as long as you are able to breath.

Adele is the type of insecure mother who is controled by her passions and never settling down. She is being used by men who dump her after they have some good time. While Ann is the independant girl who is fed up with her mothers incompetence and wants to leave her, but not today... This movie has no sex scenes. Only one when a boy takes his t-shirt off and trousers and stays with his underwear in front of Ann. But this is to show how men did things for her, while her mother was doing things for men. The contrast was clear and understood.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: An OK movie
Review: This movie is OK. The acting in it is great, but the story kind of lags, in my opinon.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Parent/child movie
Review: Substitute any neurotic, dysfunctional parent in Susan Sarandon's part. This is a good movie to give to a friend/family member that needs to grow up, learn to parent their children and let them go when the time comes. This is a good movie for pouty, defensive, "I'm running away from home" teens as a learning tool. Your parents are human. They make mistakes. Lastly the movie makes a good point... going off to college is a better way of escaping bad home lives, as opposed to running away to the streets. Believe me I know.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Superb acting by Portman and Surrandon make this film
Review: A provocative, lonely single mother (Susan Surrandon) decides to risk it all and take her teen daughter (Natalie Portman) to Beverly Hills. Her choice causes friction between mother (Adele) and daughter (Ann) and their family back home in smalltown Wisconnsin.

Ann has to struggle with a mother she loves and hates at the same time and to try to survive a new environment, being away from her beloved cousins back home and her mother's whims.

They live from apartment to apartment with hardly two sticks of furniture trying to sustain an illusion of success in Beverly HIlls to the family back home.

The story tests the bonds of mother and daughter who are constantly at odds, but also the only true support they each have. The mother wants to hold on to her daughter and the daughter wants to be "anywhere but here."

A number of scenes will evoke tears from even the most poker-faced movie-goers. The acting is the most beautiful thing about this film. It could have easily been a film that fell on its face, but the good story line and convincing portrayals of the characters make this more of a glimpse into the lives of two people than just a movie.

Some language (nothing beyond today's prime-time TV, however) and sexual inuendo (again, nothing beyond what you'd see on "NYPD Blue"), but no nudity or violence. A lot of tear-jerking reality, though. The DVD offers scene selection, theatrical trailer and a very short featurette... no cast bios or anything. A real shame that the makers of the film didn't include more treats on a medium that begs for behind-the-scenes clips, out-takes, interviews and more. None-the-less, an enjoyable movie.


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