Anywhere But Here (1999)

A mother and daughter search for success in Beverly Hills.

Director:

Wayne Wang

Writers:

Mona Simpson (book), Alvin Sargent (screenplay)

Stars:

Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman, Hart Bochner

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Susan Sarandon	...	Adele August
Natalie Portman	...	Ann August
Hart Bochner	...	Josh Spritzer
Eileen Ryan	...	Lillian
Ray Baker	...	Ted
John Diehl	...	Jimmy
Shawn Hatosy	...	Benny
Bonnie Bedelia	...	Carol
Faran Tahir	...	Hisham Badir
Shishir Kurup	...	Hisham Badir (voice)
Samantha Goldstein	...	4 Year Old Ann
Scott Burkholder	...	Man with Mercedes
Yvonna Kopacz Wright	...	Assistant Hotel Manager (as Yvonna Kopacz)
Eva Amurri Martino	...	Girl on T.V. (as Eva Amurri)
Kieren van den Blink	...	Girl on T.V.

Storyline

Fed up with her small-town Bay City existence, Adele August leaves her family and second husband and heads for Beverley Hills with her daughter. The teenager resents the move and her mother's always flamboyant behaviour and in turns plans to get away to university on the east coast. Mum's plans are different - she wants a movie star for a daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

hollywood california | teenager | teenage girl | female protagonist | teen angst | 

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Taglines:

A story of a mother who knows best... and a daughter who knows better.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sex-related material

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Anywhere But Here

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,607,137, 14 November 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$18,653,615, 20 February 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Natalie Portman and Ashley Johnson, who plays Sarah, both appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Natalie Portman stars as Jane Foster in the Thor series whereas Ashley Johnson appears as the waitress in the final act of Marvel's The Avengers (2012).

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Goofs

This film was released in 1999. Adele and Ann are at the beach drinking from Dunkin' Donuts cups. Dunkin' Donuts didn't come to California until 2015.

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Quotes

Ann: He said not to ever do that to me again. He said that if you do he'll have you taken off to prison and locked up and you'll never ever see me again, and you'll have to eat ice-cream on your own.
Adele: You went too far with the ice cream business. He did not say that.
Ann: Yes, he did.
Adele: No, he did not.
Ann: And he wants to adopt me. He finds me very attractive.
Adele: ...Thank you Ann, Thank you. And your fiance will be back here in 2 minutes to see if we moved the car.

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Connections

References Terms of Endearment (1983)

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Soundtracks

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly
Traditional tune, lyrics by Thomas Oliphant (uncredited)

User Reviews

fine pairing; discreet directing

Susan Sarandon has amply shown that she is capable of turning her hand to most kinds of rôles and is especially adept at teaming up with youngsters. This is no less so in this film with the prodigious Natalie Portman: the two keep the film interesting when almost everything else is a rather blasé prêt-a-porté production, mostly due to Wayne Wang's rather uninspired directing, as well as a music score that has very little to do with the proceedings and did nothing to fill in any stop-gaps.

The film is saved precisely by the Sarandon-Portman tandem providing an energetic display of a mother, divorced, skidding along frenetically almost hysterically, and her adolescent daughter trying to keep her young head on her shoulders and pointing in the right direction. The result is an interesting clash of personalities, veering from the dramatic to the humorous in a style which is not far from being a `road-movie'. Indeed, frequently, reminiscences of `Thelma and Louis' come to mind as the film unfurls, though `Anywhere but Here' is several rungs lower down on the ladder.

Even so, my vote is slightly higher than the IMDb average. Hopefully we shall be able to enjoy a true drama with these two ladies in the future, but with a more exiguous director – Stephen Daldry, perhaps?