Simply A Masterpiece

Expected more

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The movie was filmed in 1999 and in it they were drinking Dunkin Donuts coffee and eating donuts but there was no Dunkin Donuts in the entire west coast untill 14 to 15 years later totally messed up. Great movie

Anywhere but Here (1999): Dir: Wayne Wang / Cast: Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Hart Bochner, Shawn Hatosy, Eileen Ryan: Undemanding tripe suggesting one's place in life, and hopefully that place isn't anywhere where this film can be seen. It is about a mother and daughter with different dreams and desires. Susan Sarandon packs up her daughter and moves to Beverly Hills California where she hopes to begin teaching and establish her daughter as an actress. Her daughter resents this and feels pressured. The premise isn't much and the conclusion leaves much to be desired but director Wayne Wang gives a detailed description of relationships that threaten to tear apart at the seams because the thread is too strong, much like the screenplay does, ever so rapidly. Story is sidetracked with unnecessary subplots such as the new man in Sarandon's life or the cousin back home that dies. Sarandon plays the mother who is seeking new direction and wishes not to travel it alone. Natalie Portman struggles to adjust to her mother's demands. Both actresses are far too talent for such predictable roles with little depth. Lame supporting roles by Hart Bochner and Shawn Hatosy that do little if anything to enhance this drivel. Themes regards trusting others and growth and responsibility but viewers will likely wish to be anywhere but here. Score: 4 / 10

Ideal part for Susan Sarandon here. She is basically a free spirit. She has had 2 unsuccessful marriages. She flees with her unhappy daughter, Natalie Portman, to the L.A. scene. She secures a teaching job there, but with her problems and social hangups, teaching is not exactly for her and her resignation soon occurs.This is a film dealing with a mother-daughter relationship gone completely awry. There is family tragedy and the two women desperately struggle to cope with life, each one wanting independence.The telephone scene with her father is so memorable. That's what happens after years of separation and another family.The ending is an attempt for the two women to get the independence they have both sought.

I purchased this because it is an Ashley Johnson, her around age 15, the year before What Women Want. She only has a small part in this, a friend of the lead teen, but is on screen maybe four times. Those bits are nice, to me. A big plus is that Heather DeLoach, Ermengarde in A Little Princess 1995, is also in that group of friends. For me, this DVD is essential. * Spoiler * Further than that I have problems. The lead actress, Susan Saradon as Adele, plays someone tied up in knots to be at near baby level, the more obvious main story as how disastrous that is for her teenage daughter and for herself and for society. My DVD sleeve calls this funny and touching but I find that PR blurb to be missing the point and doing down Adele and Ann both, by that. This is a comedy to the extent that Brazil - 1985 or 28 Days – 2000 are. Of recent dvds I have seen, I find The Quiet and The Chumscrubber to be much more approachable in how they deal with this sort of thing. I can watch them more than once. Except there is still a need for some to follow the approach of this particular feature. There are other, less blatant, story lines and the photo shown early on is just as relevant as the mum's chains. * So. For me this is an essential DVD. But it only has ten minutes that I will want to watch often and this is scattered through the feature. The parts with the friends and parts that can give that some context.