Where the Heart Is

Director: Matt Williams
Producer: Matt Williams, David McFadzean, Susan Cartsonis, Patricia Whitcher
Screenwriter: Babaloo Mandel, Lowell Ganz
Stars: Natalie Portman, Keith David, Stockard Channing, Ashley Judd, Sally Field, Dylan Bruno
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Year of Release: 2000
Released on Video: 09/26/2000

Novalee is 17 and pregnant. She has never had a real home. When her musician boyfriend dumps her at an Oklahoma Wal Mart with nothing but a camera and $5.55 she hides in the store, keeping track of all the items she steals in case she ever gets the chance to pay it back. She is discovered in her hide out just as she is giving birth, and awakes in a hospital bed to find that she has gained instant celebrity status in the small town as the mother of “The Wal-Mart Baby”. Over the next few years she creates a makeshift family from a group of eccentric friends and realizes her own strength.

Viewing Suggestion:

Watch as Novalee hopes against hope, does what she can, then finally discovers the gift of friendship and belonging she longed for.

Ask Yourself:

- Do you believe that your situation is too overwhelming to ever get a handle on it?
- What are the influences in your life that seem overwhelming to you?
- Do you have some control over simplifying your life?
- Would exercising some of this control you can make things less overwhelming?
- Or do you have to face these challenges as Novalee had to?
- Can you see her as a model and find the strength, courage, and determination inside yourself?