leplatypus I'm honest: Sarandon irritates me. So she's the perfect choice here to play a exasperating mother. What's funny is that her daughter is one of my favorite actress, Natalie. I'm always amazed how Natalie can express her feelings so well and since such young age. Here, she has a heavy part because she cries more than she laughs. In fact, a bit like in "BTF III", the roles are reversed because the daughter is serious, hard-working (so acts like a mother) while the mother is playful, careless (so acts like a teen).No matter how problems pile up, it's good to see that the red line is never crossed between them because they always share their eternal bond of love. They shout together but they never split. I guess that's what love is about. Another funny thing came nearly at the end of the movie because it's only there that I realized that their story was a bit mine too: indeed, I quit also my familial dead end in the country to come to a city of light. As Nathalie and Sarandon, I hear about my roots more than I am with them but unlike them, my departure was smooth.Finally, if the movie begins like "Mulholland drive" (same shots of palm trees and scene at a coffee), it's really about the relationships. Unfortunately, the rhythm drags a lot and of all thousand of cities in America, they had to choose LA!

pc95 For a library check-out, "Anywhere But Here" is about par. It might be worth a viewing to kill time if it's bad weather outside - might be. The acting and directing in it is not particularly remarkable, nor is the story which seems more like writing and scenes splashed together. I fell asleep during the first watch which during a well-made movie, I never do. Upon re-watch to catch the parts I missed, I didn't think the movie was horrible, just soppy, syrupy melodrama. I didn't really care for any of the characters or their predicaments, and don't particularly enjoy watching mother/daughter Portman/Sarandon's arguments and make-ups repeating over and over. I thought the whole family background and in-fighting was terribly overcooked and was thrown together. The music was schlock. On second thought, give this a pass if you're trying to decide to watch.

annevejb I purchased this because it is an Ashley Johnson, her around age 15, the year before What Women Want. She only has a small part in this, a friend of the lead teen, but is on screen maybe four times. Those bits are nice, to me. A big plus is that Heather DeLoach, Ermengarde in A Little Princess 1995, is also in that group of friends. For me, this DVD is essential. * Spoiler * Further than that I have problems. The lead actress, Susan Saradon as Adele, plays someone tied up in knots to be at near baby level, the more obvious main story as how disastrous that is for her teenage daughter and for herself and for society. My DVD sleeve calls this funny and touching but I find that PR blurb to be missing the point and doing down Adele and Ann both, by that. This is a comedy to the extent that Brazil - 1985 or 28 Days – 2000 are. Of recent dvds I have seen, I find The Quiet and The Chumscrubber to be much more approachable in how they deal with this sort of thing. I can watch them more than once. Except there is still a need for some to follow the approach of this particular feature. There are other, less blatant, story lines and the photo shown early on is just as relevant as the mum's chains. * So. For me this is an essential DVD. But it only has ten minutes that I will want to watch often and this is scattered through the feature. The parts with the friends and parts that can give that some context.

moonspinner55 Talented screenwriter Alvin Sargent sadly cannot get any engaging ideas cooking in this artificial trifle about a wayward mother and her mature teenage daughter trying to make their lives work in Los Angeles despite mom's flighty behavior. Apart from several good sequences, I didn't quite buy Susan Sarandon as a flake (she's too intrinsically smart and focused to be passed off as this devil-may-care lady), and her naturally grounded personality is a bad fit for the role of an irresponsible parent. Natalie Portman fares much better as her kid, and yet there's a creepy aloofness to her work (and some of her scenes, such as the one where she asks a boy to strip, are misguided and uncomfortable to watch). Certainly not an incompetent piece, "Anywhere But Here" does have moments that work, but it isn't an embraceable film, nor has it proved to be an important one. ** from ****