Review of Anywhere but Here (1999) by Ben F — 08 Aug 2012

"Anywhere But Here" had a solid story. It's execution was pretty well done, and for the most part, it's acting was very good. The film had a good script and a pretty good story. So what was bad about this film? Well, for the most part it was fairly dull. I was actually surprised with how bored I found myself throughout this movie. There were particular scenes that I almost fell asleep during, and that's definitely not a good thing. There wasn't enough tangible substance in this movie for it to have a true effect on me.

A mom and her daughter are pretty poor, but they decide to move out to California so the daughter can chase her dreams. The plot is so-so, but I think everyone was expecting the goodness to come out in the acting of Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon. So plot wise, it's okay. I don't think the main plot of this movie was really what anyone was paying attention to.

Like I said, for the most part the acting was pretty good. Natalie Portman gives a solid performance for how she used to act back when she was younger, and Susan Sarandon was actually very good in certain sequences. They both did a very good job. I don't really remember any of the other actors so I can't say anything about them.

Like I said the main problem with this film was it's substance. First of all, it's filmed in this really awkwardly colored tint which made me want to take a nap, so that didn't really help matters. There were a lot of plot points that were quite predictable, in terms of how the mother and daughter got along with each other. There wasn't enough of a grasp on the characters for us to feel something when something bad was happening or anything.

"Anywhere But Here" follows all of the instructions and abides by all of the film protocols. It's problem is that the film doesn't take any risks at all. For the most part the audience is witness to a highly-linear film, that hits every area that you think it was going to. The predictability drowns you in boredom, when your expecting the unexpected to happen. 20th Century Fox, along with Wayne Wong, didn't seem to want to do anything out of the ordinary. That was what plagued this film. There were some areas I liked, and I guess thats what made this movie so-so. I would recommend the film if you're really into this kind of stuff, but if your just a fan of film in general...it's kind of a movie that could cause you to space out.