Where The Heart Is movie

I discovered two important things this week:

1) Never start watching a Natalie Portman movie the night before final exams, thinking you’ll just see half and finish after the test.

2) Only the stupidest, most oafish of guys would leave Natalie Portman at a Walmart.

After years of being told to see it, I finally watched Where The Heart Is, for the single objective to seeing the inside of a Walmart that was filmed very close to where we used to live. Also, it was quite joyful hearing Natalie Portman called Mrs. Nation multiple times.

It follows the story of a girl who was dumped by her boyfriend in the middle of nowhere with no money, and secretly lives in a Walmart for months until she becomes famous for having her baby in the store. The interesting thing about this movie is that it came out quite a long time ago but I still remember when it was released, because we saw a band that was in the movie at a free show in the middle of a Walmart (fittingly enough).

Unfortunately, though the band had such an enormous potential after all the publicity from the movie (which played their song at least 4 times throughout) they failed to ever become a success, and even released a best-of titled ‘Barely Famous Hits’ just because their label wanted to be rid of their ilk. Even though my Nation grandmother saw it, I wasn’t allowed to for certain reasons you might notice if you see it and then realize I was 11 at the time.

Added May 2, 2008: Forgot to mention the name of the band. It’s The Warren Brothers and the song is called That’s The Beat Of A Heart.

Movies shot before 9/11 always seem to have a much more innocent feel to them, as if the world wasn’t quite seen as dark as it is today. I always like watching films from before that because they act as a strange reminder of when I was growing up. And besides, Natalie Portman putting on a Texas accent was a laugh.