A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Anywhere But Here

Date Viewed: 11/27/99

Details:

Susan Sarandon

Natalie Portman

Bonnie Bedelia

Director: Wayne Wang

Score: 1/2

The Review: A quiet character study of a mother (Sarandon) and teenage daughter (Portman) who move from the midwest to Beverly Hills -- the former to start a new life, and the latter under (loud and moody) duress. These are two personalities in conflict and dependence.

Taken from the 1986 best selling novel by Mona Simpson, in one sense this is a "coming of age" movie focused on the daughter. In another sense, it follows the maturation of the mother: coming out of a semi-repressed shell of marriage into the glamorous world near Hollywood, moving from intense and conflicted co-dependence to understanding and friendship.

Good.

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