Rating: 
Summary: This Natalie Portman movie is packed with genuine warmth.
Review: Everybody should go see "Where The Heart Is"! I was totally impressed with this movie, and, being a movie critic myself, I have to say that this film distributes drama, romance, and family to the most extraordinary level. Natalie Portman is Novalee Nation, a seventeen-yearold girl who is abandoned by her trashy boyfriend at an Oklahoma Wal-Mart. Novalee, who is seven months pregnant, has no where to go. She lives in the store for six weeks and even has her baby there. As Novalee settles into the town, she learns a lot of lessons in love and she comes to terms with herself and shows excessive love toward her daughter, Americus. An excellent supporting cast, a good, solid script and the perfect combo of laughter and tears make this a definite must-see movie. It's the best movie I have seen since "Good Will Hunting"...you just can't pass this one up!
Rating:
Summary: Very True to the Book
Review: Where the Heart Is was a good interpretation of the book. I thought the acting was very good, Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd did an espically good job, and even though it's kinda sad I would recommend this movie to everyone!
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: I originally rented this video as part of my Natalie Portman marathon session. I didn't care or expect this to be a good movie. However, as I started to watch it, I started to lose focus of Natalie and get enveloped by the enormity of the plot's attention to detail.
Natalie and macho-stupid-everyman decide to move to California from TN. As they are going along, Natalie asks for some money to get some stuff in Wal Mart. When she returns, her boyfriend (and sperm-father of her fetus) is gone. His uncaring decision ignites an extended session of events.
First, Natalie intuits that she must stay in Wal Mart because of her superstitious opposition to the number five. She figures out a method to sleep in the store overnight. Any reasonable person would know this is not possible in reality, but I guess we can let movies have some creative license.
She ends up popping out her kid in the Wal Mart late at night with the unknown help of Forny crashing himself through plate-glass to help her (we are still trying to figure out how he knew she needed his help). She comes to and is told what happened and that she is a tv celebrity because of delivering the kid at Wal Mart. She even get $500 from the CEO of Wal Mart, plus a lifetime guarantee of employment at any Wal Mart due to the enormous positive advertising she gave the chain.
Most of the remainder of the movie deals with everyday life events raising the kid (Americus). One small event that displays the attnetion to detail of this movie is the part of the overly-literal right-wing nuts from Mississippi, who come there and temporarily steal the baby only to have second thoughts before deciding to just build a Jesus display on the lawn while saying that delivering kids outside of marriage is an abomination of God.
It's hard for me to verbalize how good this movie is. Some excellence is not to be conveyed through words. This is one of those movies you need to see for yourself while allowing the emotions to caress you to their maximum effect. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Another Chick Flick
Review: They give us a bad name, I swear.
This one isn't terrible, but it's not something you would want to spend money on either. Natalie Portman plays a young pregnant woman abandoned at a Wal-Mart by her boyfriend who has dreams of becoming a star. She shacks it up at the Wal Mart where she actually delivers the baby one late night.
Ashley Judd and Stockard Channing play the supportive friends, the former a baby making machine that can't find the right guy, and the latter a hippie-esque type that takes her in. From tornados, to kidnappings, to terrible women-beaters and the sensitive and mysterious romantic interest, this movie has everything a Lifetime movie should except a barf bag.
It does have it's moments, and some are even funny. Judd, Channing, and Portman are all worthy actresses and they can turn any turkey into something at least watchable. And watchable it is if like me, you are stuck with nothing better to do and an older relative is in control of the television. At least I didn't fall asleep or just go home.
Sally Field has an interesting cameo in this movie, and it is probably the most memorable scene in the whole flick.
More disturbing than anything about this bland movie is this glorification of small business undermining Wal Mart. I hate Wal Mart and all that it stands for, and I am pretty sure that were I in Novalee's predicament, I would have at least given birth in a dumpster before I let Wal Mart capitalize on me. What kept me from giving this a three star rating was the visual I had of this movie further promoting this decidedly evil empire. Sorry for the soap box rant, but I had a hard time getting past that particular point, and it made it difficult for me to like the movie more so than it would have anyway.
It is only in reading the reviews on this web site that I even knew that this movie was based on a book. Why freakin' Wal Mart? I am sure that the book is better than the movie - it always is, but I don't think I will be reading it any time soon.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: 20th Century Fox's "Where The Heart Is" Released in 2000, Directed by Matt Williams, is a stereotypical drama with a predictable theme and a standard 'Chick-Flick' plot. The dramatic theme of this movie is one of improving one's self, no matter what your beginnings or how hard life challenges you. The main character, Nova Lee Nation (portrayed by Natalie Portman), exemplifies this triumphant spirit by starting the movie as a young pregnant trailer queen moving with her boyfriend to California. She is then pushed to her lowest point when she is abandoned at a Wal-Mart in Sequoia, Oklahoma. In an odd twist it is at this Wal-Mart that she is introduced to Sister Husband (Stockard Channing) who is later an important figure in her life.
With no place to live, Nova Lee lives in the local Wal-Mart where she eventually has her child. This event gives her her 15 minutes of fame as the mother of "The Wal-Mart Baby". While recovering in the hospital she meets her new best friend (played by Ashley Judd). When released from the hospital, she finds herself, again, without a place to stay. This is when Sister Husband really comes to the rescue.
Sister Husband takes in Nova Lee and her new child named Americus. Things seem to be going well for everyone until a tornado hits the small Oklahoma town. Sister Husband is killed in the tornado and it would again seem as though Nova Lee is stranded. We soon find out, though, that Sister has left everything to Nova Lee in her will. With what Sister Husband left her, Nova Lee is able to build herself a "Home Without Wheels" as Nova Lee calls it.
Before long, Nova Lee decides that she is capable of much more than a Wal-Mart cashier. She begins a photography career and is astonishingly good at it. Even with her new found fortune and success, Nova Lee feels herself unworthy of the town librarian, the man she loves. Because she feels insecure, she sends away the man of her dreams. Predictably, though, she is brought to her senses by her best friends word's and rushes cross-country to reclaim her beau.
I give this move 3 out of 5 stars. The plot is quite predictable, and none of the intended twists are truly surprising. The acting in this
movie is done well and there is enough humor and irony to keep a person interested, though.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Surprise
Review: It's not that I didn't enjoy this film, but after finishing the book, I'd have to say that people who've seen the movie and haven't read the book have lucked out. I've never read such a heart-warming story that really makes you think about life and how much there is to appreciate. But, after I read the book I was curious as to how the movie measured up, and I'm sorry to say that the movie didn't. The book has so much more going for it and really explains what goes on, not to mention, things that seem almost and completely different from the movie. For an example, in the book there's a tragedy involving the local library, and the movie, well, nothing remotely compared to that happened. The movie ended differently than I had expected, because there were key points left out that were in the book and not in the movie. So please, read the book! You will not be disappointed. It's wonderful.
Rating: 
Summary: Where the Heart Isn't
Review: First of all, to anyone who loved this movie: please, please read Billie Letts' book. Not to keep the book vs. movie debate going or anything . . . The scenes are described beautifully, and you really feel the charcters much more than you can from the screen version. One question: why did they change Novalee's bad luck number to 5? HUH??! There were a few liberties taken with the plot, such as the omission of Benny Goodluck and Moses's wife, Certain. They really helped to flesh out the story. A MAJOR complaint about the character of Lexie Coop: Why, oh why did they case Ashley Judd as Lexie? I admit, Judd did a nice job and seemed to understand the role. But the Lexie in the book is very overweight and not the most attractive lady ever. What she IS is a great lady and the mother of some beautiful children. It seems like the director "prettied up" Lexie's character by casting Judd, easily a size 4. Why?! All in all, a nice movie to watch, but if you want to know the real story, pick up the book.
Rating:
Summary: Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman, excellent!
Review: I loved this movie! This movie tells the story or a teenage Novalle Nation (Natalie Portman) who is pregnant. When her boyfriend takes her to Wal-Mart to use the bathroom and get some kind of shoes, she comes back and he is gone! She's got no money, friends, or family. She has nowhere to go. Only thing she has is a tree. Her unlucky number is 5. One night, while living in the Wal-Mart, she has her baby. After gaining 15 minutes of fame for giving birth to the "walmart baby," she begins to put her life back together with the help of a kind, quirky strangers who become her surrogate family. Based on the #1 best-selling novel by Bille Letts, this movie is Brilliantly funny, deeply moving, beautifully acted. Buy it! You wont regret it!
Rating:
Summary: the best Book and Movie EVER
Review: One night, I didn't know we where going to watch this. Me and a bunch of the girl friends popped it in and with me never seeing it, I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. I laughed, cry, and nearly broke into tears more than once. Natalie and Ashley make a great team in this movie and I'm glad I took the time to sit and watch it. After the movie that night, we had a night of fun talking, eating pizza, and playing games. It was time to go home at 10:00 p.m. and we left each other alone. On the way home, I called Lauren and asked if she still had soundtrack for "Where The Heart Is." sadly, she didn't. I finally bought the movie and added it to my DVD collection. Ashley and Natalie shine! You will love it!!!
Rating:
Summary: Charming
Review: Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd make a great team of women fighting for what's right. Another Hollywood movie with the stereotypical happy ending, but my favorite recent Natalie Portman film [definitely not including the Professional and Beautiful Girls] A charming movie with good music. Watch it and see if you can catch the huge picture of Queen Amidala aka Natalie Portman's character in Star Wars, in the background.
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