| 67 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
In no way is this a serious movie. Still, it's hard to resist.
|
| 67 |
Portland Oregonian
Had Williams chopped away more pointedly at the rambling script, he might've had something memorable.
|
| 63 |
Miami Herald
Phoebe Flowers
Everything that cynical moviegoers despise and the tender-minded adore.
|
| 63 |
Chicago Tribune
Never really feels right.
|
| 63 |
Chicago Sun-Times
So heavy on incident, contrivance, coincidence, improbability, sudden reversals and dizzying flash-forwards (sometimes years at a time) that it seems a wonder the characters don't crash into each other in the confusion.
|
| 50 |
Christian Science Monitor
Ultimately, it's more an emotional hodgepodge than a compassionate look at real human problems.
|
| 50 |
New York Post
Hard-core chick shlock, weakened by odd shifts in tone and a slack pace, but elevated by a luminous performance by Natalie Portman.
|
| 50 |
Dallas Observer
A top-notch cast compensates for dubious credibility.
|
| 50 |
Boston Globe
Never earns the rollicking life affirmation it's after.
|
| 40 |
TNT RoughCut
Sarah Raskin
Worthwhile performances (including cameos from Joan Cusack and Sally Field) and one-liners, but don't leave your home looking for Heart.
|
| 40 |
Film.com
Serves up the usual homilies, but it lacks the quirky density and cinematic snap.
|
| 40 |
The New York Times
No-Good Men, Foolish Choices and Birth on the Floor of a Wal-Mart.
|
| 40 |
LA Weekly
Although its lushness and penchant for melodrama are the cinematic equivalent of Billy Sherrill's syrupy string arrangements for George Jones, Tammy Wynette and Charlie Rich circa 1973, the movie deftly manages to remain sweet without becoming saccharine.
|
| 38 |
USA Today
The Wal-Mart of cinematic soap operas. One-stop shopping for your emotional movie needs.
|
| 38 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Sloshes between comedy and drama, never quite hitting stride as either.
|
| 30 |
Austin Chronicle
Home may be where the heart is, but I kept wishing this poor silly girl would up and move.
|
| 30 |
TV Guide
To be fair, this could have been worse.
|
| 30 |
Film.com
Recycled "Steel Magnolias."
|
| 25 |
Entertainment Weekly
Simply put, it may be the lamest movie ever made about poor white... Southern characters.
|
| 25 |
San Francisco Examiner
A particularly egregious array of Kodak moments.
|
| 22 |
Mr. Showbiz
A swamp of clichés, contrivances, and cheap ham-and-cheese hero sentimentality.
|
| 20 |
Salon.com
Portman and Judd aren't responsible for the mendacious and finally repulsive sentimentality of Where the Heart Is, but by the end their wholesome glow seemed contaminated by it, and that's a shame.
|
| 20 |
Variety
Banal and trite where it could have been insightful and emotionally truthful, this Fox release is also notable for featuring the first disappointing performance by teen star Natalie Portman.
|
| 20 |
Chicago Reader
Moving in fits and starts, mawkish in its sincerity, and at times disjointed in its lumpy structure.
|
| 20 |
Newsweek
Ann-Rebecca Laschever
Unfortunately, the strong ensemble cast is not able to hold together this often wayward and meandering story.
|
| 10 |
Washington Post
Tries to put your tear ducts in a headlock with a litany of catastrophes.
|
| 10 |
Los Angeles Times
In comparison to Where the Heart Is, the Wal-Mart commercials seem like cinema verite.
|
| 10 |
Village Voice
Indulges something of a number obsession, amounting not exactly to a movie but rather a tallying of atrocities.
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