Where The Heart Is (2000)
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A pregnant teenager abandoned at a Walmart finds an unexpected community and a new life in a small Oklahoma town.
The story
After being abandoned by her boyfriend at a Walmart in a small Oklahoma town, 17-year-old Novalee Nation decides to stay in the store. While living secretly inside the building, she befriends a local woman and a photographer. During a severe thunderstorm, she goes into labor and gives birth to a baby girl. The birth brings her into the public eye, and with the help of her new friends, she begins to build a new life for herself in the community while her former boyfriend continues his own journey elsewhere.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Novalee Nation, a 17-year-old with a seven-month pregnancy, is abandoned by her boyfriend Willy Jack Pickens at a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. She stays in the store, befriends a woman named Sister Husband and a photographer named Moses Whitecotton. During a storm, she gives birth to a girl named Americus. Her estranged mother briefly visits but leaves with donated money. Sister Husband takes Novalee and the baby in. Meanwhile, Willy Jack is arrested for transporting a minor and later becomes a musician under the name 'Billy Shadow.' Years later, a tornado kills Sister Husband, and Novalee becomes her heir. Novalee eventually meets a man named Forney Hull, a librarian she has known for years. After a period of uncertainty regarding her feelings, she eventually realizes her love for him. The film concludes with Novalee and Forney marrying in a ceremony at the Walmart.
- First release year
- 2000
- Runtime (minutes)
- 120
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Matt Williams
- Writers
- Lowell Ganz · screenplay; Babaloo Mandel · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Natalie Portman; Stockard Channing; Ashley Judd; Joan Cusack; James Frain; Dylan Bruno; Keith David; Sally Field
- Genres
- romantic drama; comedy-drama
- Themes
- motherhood; community; resilience
- Tone and mood
- drama
- Premise and plot tags
- pregnancy; small town; Walmart
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1995 novel by Billie Letts
- Reception
- The film received mostly negative reviews, with critics citing a poor script and messy plot.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 30% · review count: 28; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 35% · review count: 97
- Production trivia
- The film was shot in various locations in Central Texas.; The soundtrack was released by RCA Records.; The film was based on a best-selling novel.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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