How To Watch Where The Heart Is

It's almost easy to forget that Natalie Portman has been a professional actor since she was just a kid. That's in large part because the Oscar-winning actor has always shown talent and wisdom well beyond her years. And she's used both to carve out one of the more covetable careers in Hollywood over the past three decades. 

Still, the late-90s and early-aughts were arguably a tricky time for Portman, with the actor laboring through George Lucas' excessively green-screened "Star Wars" prequel trilogy, and a handful of less high-profile projects that never really found an audience. One of those largely overlooked offerings would have to be Portman's 2000 melodrama, "Where the Heart Is." Based on Billie Letts' novel of the same name, the film hit theaters in the Spring of 2000 and found Portman sharing the screen with the likes of Ashely Judd, Joan Cusack, James Frain, Stockard Channing, Keith David, and Sally Field.

Neither the cast's formidable talent, nor Portman's star power could help make the Hallmark Channel-ready movie a hit, as "Where the Heart Is" drifted from pop-culture consciousness soon after its release. The film has developed its share of champions over the years, however, becoming a staple of streaming and cable television. If you're one of those fans, you'll be happy to know that, according to Roku.com, you can rent a digital copy of the flick from pretty much any VOD outlet for about $3.99. 

As noted by the Roku team, you can rent "Where the Heart Is" from Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, and Redbox VOD services. But if you're looking to stream "Where the Heart Is" through iTunes, renting is out of the question, as the platform is only offering it for purchase at a price of $14.99.

That price may prove a deal breaker for a film boasting a 35% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, especially as you can likely track down a physical copy for considerably less. But if you're on the hunt for a proper, cry-face inducing movie fronting A-list talent, or if you're perhaps just looking for an old-fashioned tear-jerker to sob along with on any given Tuesday night — see also: "Steel Magnolias," "The Notebook," or "Titanic" — you can certainly do a lot worse than "Where the Heart Is." 

For those unfamiliar with the film, it finds Portman playing Novalee Nation, a pregnant 17-year-old who's abandoned by her beau in an Oklahoma Wal-Mart parking lot on their cross-country journey to California. With no job, no skills, and no money, she secretly lives in the store until her baby is born. And once that happens, she decides to make a new life for herself in the Sooner State. Along the way, she learns that home really is, well, you probably get the idea. And if you do get it, "Where the Heart Is" is a tear-jerker well worth the rental price.