Amazon.com video review:
In Wayne Wang's star-driven adaptation of Mona Simpson's tragicomic
bestseller about a mismatched mother and daughter, fortysomething Adele
August (Susan Sarandon) is every adolescent's nightmare: over- (or
under-) dressed, always and loudly "on," forgetful of mundane matters such as
bills, more colorful kid than reliable mum. In contrast, 14-year-old Ann
(Natalie Portman) yearns for stability, roots, understated hues.
Transplanted
from Wisconsin small town and extended family to a Beverly Hills, California,
address of choice for American Dreamers like Adele, Ann comes painfully of
age--sometimes blighted but also enriched by the fictions of a charismatic
parent afraid to be alone in the dark.
Wang has always shown a sure, caring hand when it comes to
cross-generational
angst (see Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart, The Joy Luck Club,
Smoke). Here,
he encourages Sarandon in a remarkably brave, exposed performance as an
aging
adventuress whose imagination continually outstrips her ability to make
dreams come true, whose charm is both her ticket to ride and a dead end.
Portman's pout of strained adolescent distaste soon wears thin, but when
The Phantom Menace's kabuki princess momentarily thaws, she projects a
lost child's
terrible shock and confusion. Hollywood-sized and scripted by the numbers,
Anywhere but Here lost ground to Tumbleweeds, a similarly
themed but more nuanced
indie (with Oscar-nominated Janet McTeer), and it can't hold a candle to
Barbara Stanwyck's Stella Dallas (1937), top of the line in this
particular
genre. But for any daughter who's looked into her mother's face
and--yikes!--seen a possible future, this trip's definitely worth taking.
--Kathleen Murphy
