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Anywhere but Here

Play trailer 2:26 Poster for Anywhere but Here PG-13 1999 1h 54m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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64% Tomatometer 88 Reviews 54% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
In this adaptation of the Mona Simpson novel, single mother Adele August (Susan Sarandon) is bad with money, and even worse when it comes to making decisions. Her straight-laced daughter, Ann (Natalie Portman), is a successful high school student with Ivy League aspirations. When Adele decides to pack up and move the two of them from the Midwest to Beverly Hills, Calif., to pursue her dreams of Hollywood success, Ann grows frustrated with her mother's irresponsible and impulsive ways.
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Anywhere but Here

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Critics Consensus

The strong chemistry between Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman as a mother and daughter trying to make a fresh start in L.A. helps to elevate Anywhere But Here above its occasional forays into melodrama.

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Critics Reviews

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Nell Minow Common Sense Media 12/22/2010
3/5
Solid story of independence for teens. Go to Full Review
Geoff Andrew Time Out 06/24/2006
Portman is excellent, balancing wisdom and petulance, loyalty and imposition... Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy Variety 01/02/2006
3/5
As a depiction of a loving-turbulent relationship between a single mom (Susan Sarandon) and her rebellious teenage daughter (Natalie Portman), Wang's meller is nicely crafted but old-fashioned like Hollywood's weepies of yesteryear. Go to Full Review
Chuck Klosterman Akron Beacon Journal 10/30/2023
2/4
By the end of Anywhere But Here, everything has worked out perfectly (and predictably), but that perfection seems implausible and almost disappointing. Go to Full Review
Laura Clifford Reeling Reviews 04/09/2005
B-
Director Wayne Wang has delivered a solid entertainment, particularly for women, with Anywhere But Here. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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11/13/2024 emotionally heartfelt and wonderfully acted even 25 years later Sarandon and Portman have terrific chemistry and really know how to emote when they do it's a very strong story of a mother learning to let go of her daughter, something that we all must face at some point in our lives letting go, love, honesty, adjustment, inner conflict, self-doubt and attempting to rise above the inevitable ties into the plot dramatically well it's also a real tear jerker, too See more @ExcessMale 10/27/2022 Worth seeing once just for the constant zing drummed up by Sarandon and Portman. See more david f 08/10/2021 I only watched this DVD cause it came packaged with another movie that I really wanted. But it was pretty good, with a solid, literate story and characters. It focused on women, which is rare enough in Hollywood, and on a mother daughter relationship strained by both poverty and eccentricity. It deserves an audience, I think. (It also had some late-nineties scenes in a Borders Books and Music that was an important time capsule for those of us who fondly remember that bookstore chain.) See more 01/19/2021 A movie that is engaging and realistic. Hard to watch without shedding a tear. See more steve d 07/03/2020 The story is good enough but it is the chemistry between the actors that makes it work. See more 08/07/2019 Great relation mother-daughter, another classic in Natalie Portman's Filmography. Beautifully written, great emotion throughout the whole movie. Really underrated. See more Read all reviews
Anywhere but Here

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this adaptation of the Mona Simpson novel, single mother Adele August (Susan Sarandon) is bad with money, and even worse when it comes to making decisions. Her straight-laced daughter, Ann (Natalie Portman), is a successful high school student with Ivy League aspirations. When Adele decides to pack up and move the two of them from the Midwest to Beverly Hills, Calif., to pursue her dreams of Hollywood success, Ann grows frustrated with her mother's irresponsible and impulsive ways.
Director
Wayne Wang
Producer
Laurence Mark
Screenwriter
Mona Simpson, Alvin Sargent
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
20th Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 12, 1999, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$18.7M
Runtime
1h 54m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby Digital
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