When you look at the Netflix envelope for the Fox 2000 (pun)
film “Where the Heart Is” (directed by Matt Williams), you think the idea is a
bit manipulative. Based on the novel by
Billie Letts, it sets up a single mom, Novalee Nation (Natalie Portman), a 17 year old, abandoned by her boyfriend in
Seqoyah, OK when she goes into a WalMart with sore feet. She winds up living there, in secret and homeless, and having “the
Walmart baby”.
Perhaps this starts out as a road movie (I somehow think of
David Lynch and “Wild at Heart” even though the style here is much more
mainstream) but it does turn into a character story about hardship, staying
together, and family values. Natalie’s celebrity leads some eccentric townspeople
to take care of her, and she is able eventually to pay it back, particularly as
Lexie (Ashley Judd) has her own difficulties.
The plot has a lot of interesting, even challenging sidebars
and concepts. At one point, the baby
Americus is kidnapped. In another, the
family is menaced by a tornado, created quite well with CGI (rivaling effects in "Twister"). Unfortunately, the storm cellar doesn’t quite
save them all. But Novalee winds up
inheriting some money and assets.
The trashy boyfriend Wily Jack Perkins (Dylan Bruno) has his
own story. After some time in jail, he
tries to become a country singer, and gets sued for copyright infringement by
the ex-inmate who claims he stole the song.
Later, Willy, still totally drunk, loses both legs when he is run over
by a train. Amazingly, Novalee can still
care about him.
The film has a very well-known title song, “That’s the Beat
of a Heart”. I remember it playing on the car radio a lot around the time of
Y2K.
Picture: Arbuckle Mountains in central OK, my trip, Nov. 2011.
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