Movie Review – Where the Heart is

Boh Suh, Staff Writer

I feel like many of the movies and TV shows that I have written a review for tend to have a low rating. Some movies that I thought were good ended up being 4 out of 10. However, rating is subjective, so I am going to keep writing! One interesting thing about the movie “Where the Heart Is” is a significantly different rating between their Rotten Tomato ratings. I have never seen a 41 percent difference.

At least many viewers seem to be on the same page with me. The genre of the movie is romance and comedy, but there are some depressing parts in the movie. The movie was released in 2000 featuring great performances by Natalie Portman, James Frain, and Ashley Judd.

I remember Portman in the movie “Leon” when she was little and in the movie, “Black Swan” when she was in her early 20s. So, she was right in the middle of her career when she performed. Her characters in all three movies are very different and she completely changes in each movie.

When I first read the title, I thought this was about stories in a hospital – some cardiac surgeon finds a heart and saves someone’s life. Spoiler alert: the story has nothing to do with a cardiac surgeon. The basic plot is that a pregnant teenager was abandoned by her boyfriend at Walmart in Oklahoma and she goes through various challenges to find a true love and a good friend.

The story itself can be cliché by some people’s perspectives but finding good people and making friendships always puts a warm feeling in people’s hearts. Lastly, there is a hurricane in the movie, and I am glad that I do not have to see that in real life.

Rotten Tomato Rating: 35%

Rotten Tomato Audience Rating: 76%

IMDb Rating: 6.8/10

*The ratings are based on 4/18/2021.