Where the Heart Is

In which poor pregnant Tennessee teenager Novalee Nation (Portman) lands up alone in a car park in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, puts herself up in the local Wal-Mart and gives birth to a son she calls Americus. And in which the single mother and child find shelter with a kindly, kooky old couple, and befriend nurse Lexie Coop (Judd) and her ever growing brood. And ... and ... and. Adapted from Billie Letts' sudsy bestseller, this is a dementedly episodic, over-plotted story of secular faith, community and fortitude. Technically, it's terrible. Besides the dud storytelling, there's bad dialogue and wooden acting. It would be patronising too, but for the commitment of its leads - most impressively Portman, who brings a precocious moral conviction to the film's pappy wholesomeness.