Single mother Adele August is bad with money, and even worse when it comes to making decisions. Her straight-laced daughter, Ann, is a successful high school student with Ivy League aspirations. When Adele decides to pack up and move the two of them from the Midwest to Beverly Hills, Calif., to pursue her dreams of Hollywood success, Ann grows frustrated with her mother's irresponsible and impulsive ways.
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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
I've seen this a couple times over the years now and I always really enjoy it even if it is a bit on the melodramatic side. Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman are fantastic and I think that's what makes it so watchable as nothing much (really) happens plot wise, its just more of a character study.Susan Sarandon is 'Adel,' a flighty, dreamer of a woman who leaves her small town behind and moves to Beverly Hills with her teenage daughter in the hopes of... more. 'Ann'(Natalie Portman) resents both her mother and the move and they spend most of the 4 year time span covered in the movie arguing and in a role reversal as Ann is the responsible one in the mother/daughter relationship. 04.27.14
I'm honest: Sarandon irritates me. So she's the perfect choice here to play a exasperating mother. What's funny is that her daughter is one of my favorite actress, Natalie. I'm always amazed how Natalie can express her feelings so well and since such young age. Here, she has a heavy part because she cries more than she laughs. In fact, a bit like in "BTF III", the roles are reversed because the daughter is serious, hard-working (so acts like a mother) while the mother is playful, careless (so acts like a teen).No matter how problems pile up, it's good to see that the red line is never crossed between them because they always share their eternal bond of love. They shout together but they never split. I guess that's what love is about. Another funny thing came nearly at the end of the movie because it's only there that I realized that their story was a bit mine too: indeed, I quit also my familial dead end in the country to come to a city of light. As Nathalie and Sarandon, I hear about my roots more than I am with them but unlike them, my departure was smooth.Finally, if the movie begins like "Mulholland drive" (same shots of palm trees and scene at a coffee), it's really about the relationships. Unfortunately, the rhythm drags a lot and of all thousand of cities in America, they had to choose LA!
This film is about a single mother who is happy go lucky to the point that she is almost irresponsible, and her sensible teenage daughter who is undergoing adolescent turmoils."Anywhere But Here" is an engaging film from beginning to the end. Both Ann and Adele are described well right at the start, so we get to know how different their personalities are. Clashes inevitably ensue, and they are engagingly presented. I find myself so drawn to their state of minds and their circumstances. it is as if I am living their lives, feeling what they are feeling.Susan Sarandon gives another excellent performance in "Anywhere But Here". She is charismatic, happy go lucky, hedonistic, warm and loving all at once. I have always liked Susan Sarandon, and I think she is grossly underrated."Anywhere But Here" is a captivating emotional journey.
