Anywhere But Here (1999)

In Wayne Wang's star-driven adaptation of Mona Simpson's tragicomic bestseller about a mismatched mother and daughter, fortysomething Adele August (Susan Sarandon) is every adolescent's nightmare: over- (or under-) dressed, always and loudly "on," forgetful of mundane matters such as bills, more colorful kid than reliable mum. In contrast, 14-year-old Ann (Natalie Portman) yearns for stability, roots, understated hues. Transplanted from Wisconsin small town and extended family to a Beverly Hills, California, address of choice for American Dreamers like Adele, Ann comes painfully of age--sometimes blighted but also enriched by the fictions of a charismatic parent afraid to be alone in the dark.

Wang has always shown a sure, caring hand when it comes to cross-generational angst (see Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart, The Joy Luck Club, Smoke). Here, he encourages Sarandon in a remarkably brave, exposed performance as an aging adventuress whose imagination continually outstrips her ability to make dreams come true, whose charm is both her ticket to ride and a dead end. Portman's pout of strained adolescent distaste soon wears thin, but when The Phantom Menace's kabuki princess momentarily thaws, she projects a lost child's terrible shock and confusion. Hollywood-sized and scripted by the numbers, Anywhere but Here lost ground to Tumbleweeds, a similarly themed but more nuanced indie (with Oscar-nominated Janet McTeer), and it can't hold a candle to Barbara Stanwyck's Stella Dallas (1937), top of the line in this particular genre. But for any daughter who's looked into her mother's face and--yikes!--seen a possible future, this trip's definitely worth taking. --Kathleen Murphy Amazon.com

Flawed, But Very Endearing Characters

In some ways, this movie is a real masterpiece. One if its really strong merits is that doesn't try to pretend that a single mother (Sarandon) and her daughter (Portman) are perfect. It shows that people can be lovable and endearing even though they aren't perfect. Right away, we see that there is a tension between Sarandon (who really isn't through living for herself) and Portman who thinks a little more about what she does. Though she can be a brat sometimes. (One notable moment is when at a restaurant, she orders way more than she knows her mother can afford.) Throughout the story, we are inclined to think that Sarandon probably should not have had a child. One tragic flaw is that often when one of them is ready to open up, the other isn't. On several occassions, Sarandon is trying to get through to Portman, but Portman isn't ready. And at one point, Portman wants Sarandon to go to a Christmas party with her, but she can't. There are also several issues they face. Portman tries desperately to tell her mother to stop chasing a man who isn't interested in her anymore. (After one "night," he lost interest.) In one really sad moment, we see Portman auditioning for a role, and she accidentally shows her mother the kind of person she is. (One is at least entitled to wonder if "Hamlet" was revolving in the writer's mind.) But despite Sarandon's faults, we can see that she is heroic in that she did NOT abandon Portman. In an especially sad scene, we see that Portman's father really has no interest in her. So, we must at least grant that Sarandon had some sense of responsibility. In his brief role, the kind policeman is memorable. In his 2 scenes, he helps Portman, and Sarandon. It is interesting that despite Portman's (sometimes understandable) rebellious attitude towards her mother, she is not ready to 'leave her' until they are at peace with each other. While some P.C. movies try to always say: "Mother knows Best," this movie tries to underline that true love comes from knowing the flaws of each other, and still being able to reach each other. June 2, 2008

Whole Less than Sum of Stars

Part of my wife's birthday celebration involved watching old "bad" movies on DVD. We bought this one in WalMart for less than $6. It was my favorite of the two as I've always liked Susan Sarandon, and have adopted Natalie Portman as a new favorite after seeing Garden State. The two play a typical mismatched mother-daughter pair--Susan ostentatious and Natalie reserved, as they live and learn in California after Susan decides that their small-town life in Michigan just won't be enough. Both actresses do a nice job, but the story's a little too pat for this to be a good movie. November 20, 2006

Single mothers & their daughters - "The intelligent girls are inside"

This is a movie about the competitive & conflicting relationships of mothers and daughters, and their rough journey to learn how to better communicate and understand each other. Ann, played by Natalie Portman, is the daughter of Adele, played by Susan Sarandon. Adele is domineering, excessively well-intentioned, and charismatic to a fault, believing often in appearances over substance.

Ann hates the level of invasive direction that she receives from her mother. She says to a police officer who is giving her mother a ticket: "You don't even understand. I'm going to leave her one of these days."
Officer: "I'm sure you will. But not today."
Ann: "Why not today?"
Officer: "Well you should leave her when you're calm. When you're rational. You leave her when you're ready not to come back. You understand?"

The same officer plays a pivotal role, once early in the film, and once near the end. The timing of his appearances in the screenplay are not incidental. The officer is ultimately setting up a social test for the daughter to consider, a test he hopes will deter the daughter from leaving unwarrantedly and not before she exhausts every option she can discover. And he speaks with conviction and earnest, probably because he has personally seen what harm can come from people leaving each other or talking to each other when they are not calm or rational.

Sometimes when I hear daughters complaining about the faults of their mothers, I think, "That is very bad. But it's probably not as bad as what your mother had to endure with her mother." We live in a "story rich" world, where we are exposed to thousands of novels, TV, and movies that can give us relationship examples of how to better relate with each other. Our parent's parent's generation had far less social education and diverse social modeling to examine and compare. They had few parenting guides, no internet, and few social examples beyond their own family.

Adele discovers that Ann wants to live on the other side of the country. Ann comes home to find her mother has opened her mail and says, "You opened it?" Adele replies, "Well, how else am I going to know how you're planning your life? I mean after all I'm only your mother. Why would you confide in me? Thank you very much. Go ahead, open it. I'm sure you'll be very happy. PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND? Could you have gotten any farther away from me?"

Adele is admittedly selfish, irresponsible, and "the lights go out sometimes." And in the final scene with the officer, she says, "Did she tell you any of the good things that I did? Because I did a lot of good things. She's always had a warm home, food and clothing. And I got her into the Beverly Hills school system. Did she tell you that? You know, she could have been an actress, but instead she's going away to college. Doesn't she know that I would do anything for her? I mean, I love her. She is the reason that I was born. Doesn't she understand that I would do anything for her?" The officer replies, "Then, you know what to do." And Adele does IT. She sells her prized car that brought them to LA and facilitates Ann going away from her and to the other side of the country, so Ann can pursue her own, separate dreams. Adele lets go. Adele doesn't lose her level of love for her daughter. She doesn't diminish her level of attachment to her daughter. But she let's go.

The officer can see the conflicts of the mother & daughter and he tries to lead by example. He starts by exampling forgiveness. "I'll tell you what. This is what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to let you go . . . Watch the signs PLEASE." This is a beautiful movie and I recommend it to any person who wants to improve fractured relations with family members. July 20, 2006

Mother and Daughter re-define their relationship as they grow

Susan Sarandon is a perfect choice for this quirky, yet very human portrayal of a single-mom who lives in her own theatrical reality. Her daughter is the more mature of the two, played by a very green yet forceful Natlie Portman, and she has the unfortunate task of trying to find her own identity while keeping the pieces of her mother intact while they pursue her mother's quest for a life of glamour-even if said glamour is not exactly the usual definition of the word. This movie is all about self-exploration and being able to find yourself without losing the relationships already present in your life. May 8, 2006

TEETERS ON THE BRINK OF WARM-FUZZ BUT HAS ITS MOMENTS

Call me a sucker for soft squishy comedies but I had a good time watching this mom-daughter relationship yarn. It's every bit a chick-flick, simmering with pretty much every emotional relish that makes movies like it so dreary -- tears, hugs, generation-gap misunderstandings, emotional quibbles, boyfriends that never were but mom suspected, plus that very inevitable radio scene where the big chick/small chick croon along on a triumphant life-affirming note.

All this comes with one little twist though. The "We didn't come to Beverly Hills to struggle" mommie dearest here is the starry-eyed one. She hitches their wagon to LA and thrusts audition advertisements in the "Why can't we just be normal" daughter's face. The idea is to make the daughter a star, while the poor little one is perplexed with her mom's type-A complex.

Thankfully, most of it is handled with grace and just the right dash of fun moments to make it eminently watchable. The leads are great, especially Natalie Portman in her understated role, certainly a pleasant surprise when I think of her recent 'Closer' jig. Sarandon carries just the right kind of quirks to be a cheery if somewhat absurd mom.

Decent rental. August 23, 2005

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