Hey folks, Harry still out here in the City of Angels and busy as can be. I'm not really able to update too much while out here because... quite frankly... I'm worn plum out... got get up at dawn and see more stuff. I'll be covering everything from JOAN OF ARC to THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS to many other cool bits and pieces. I'll letcha know more by this weekend. Also had a great evening out with a wonderful person... Good company is so good for the soul. I'll fill y'all in more later, but for now... Hootie is going to give you a peek at what Hootie thought of ANYWHERE BUT HERE... that new Natalie Portman/Susan Sarandon film... strong acting buzz on this one.
Hi Harry,
I was privvy to attend a screening of ANYWHERE BUT HERE recently, and I thought I'd give you the skinny on it.
Susan Srandon and Natalie Portman play a mother and daughter who move from Wisconsin to Beverly Hills. Sarandon is the irresponsible mother, filled with unrealistic dreams and an inability to organise herself properly. Portman is the moody 15 year old daughter constantly embarrassed by her mother and resentful of the big move.
The film is based on a novel, and the main problem with it is that you can tell. Each scene plays out like a chapter in a book. It's a film of vignettes, and its obvious that director Wayne Wang has kept the most important ones in the narrative. The problem is that the ones he kept in don't seem to be all that important. It's one moment of mother-daughter dysfunction after the other.
It's not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. It's nicely put together, and is made into a quality work by the superb performances of Susan Sarandon (who is so much better here that in Stepmom, the woman is in my estimation the finest actress working in film today), and Natalie Portman, who may just snag herself a supporting actress Oscar nomination for her work here. It would have been more satisfying had the script been better, though
So there it is. Excellent performances make an uninspiring film worthwhile.
Go the whole nine yards and call me Hootie.
