Believing his life would be a dead end with her in Sequoyah, Novalee struggles to lie to Forney saying she does not love him. ... Forney ends up falling in love with Novalee, who feels she has to make a decision of how she can best help him. Willy Jack abandons Novalee at the local Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma when she uses the restroom and buys new shoes. Her and Forney do not marrry, In conclusion, this is a good feel good, chicken soup for the soul type book, where everything is going to be ok. Brownie calls Novalee for help, and she rushes to the apartment to discover Lexi beaten and bruised on the bed. In the film, she succumbs to the complications of her alcoholism. Novalee convinces Willy Jack to stop at a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, so she can use the restroom and purchase a pair of sandals, as hers fell through the floor of their beat-up car. After Lexi learns the story of how one of his two children isn't, in fact, his, but a child he saved from his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his biological child, Lexi falls in love with him and they eventually marry, with Novalee photographing their wedding day. It is alcoholism, the book goes more into depth then the movie, since screen writers don't tend to spend time on small details like authors will. Novalee is shown to be enjoying her life at Sister Husband's house, sharing a friendship with Forney, working at Wal-Mart and having a pregnancy scare after sleeping with a young mechanic in town. He teaches himself to play and soon writes a song, "The Beat of a Heart.". She is young and beautiful, but behind her beauty she hides all troubles and misery; she is seventeen-year-old and pregnant. The celebration is cut short when Forney's alcoholic sister Mary Elizabeth takes a fall upstairs and Forney is forced to come to her aid. He remarks that people sometimes tell a lie so big that it eats away a part of them, and that, if given a second chance, most people would do anything to set that lie straight. She soon catches, by chance, Willy Jack's name in the newspaper not long after her daughter's birthday, which reported that his wheelchair had been stolen while he was hitchhiking to Oklahoma to find his child. Meanwhile, Willy Jack is hiding from Novalee his plan to lose a finger at the trainyard so that he can win a cash settlement, like his cousin did, and not have to work again. Readers immersed in the offbeat world of Letts's lively, affecting first novel will forgive its occasional forced quirkiness. Where the Heart is by Billie Letts is an old book - and by that I mean it came out when I was in my sophomore year of high school, which was a very, very long time ago. Lexie breaks down, feeling guilty and angry, tearfully regretting her choice in men. Novalee goes to visit him and offer her support, and they end up making love before Forney leaves for Maine to bury his sister. Willy Jack is released from prison after a three-year sentence, during which time he became a talented musician. The plot of the movie goes like this. Where the Heart Is Stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, seventeen-year-old Novalee Nations only had $7.77 in change. In the book there is an entire chapter dedicated to how Willie Jack ran out of gas as he continues his trip West and how he comes across a bar where he meets the girl he decides to pick up and take with him. Once Willy Jack is released, Novalee makes plans to take him back home to Tennessee, but first, she finally calls Forney and tearfully confesses to him that she lied about loving him and that she thought he deserved someone better. In the film, Forney returns to school. In the novel, Lexie is obese. For other uses, see, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Where_the_Heart_Is_(2000_film)&oldid=1003264126, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Meanwhile, Wil… When the Walmart closes, Novalee initially panics as she is trapped inside of the store, but as it provides her with temporary shelter, takes refuge there. For other uses, see, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Where_the_Heart_Is_(novel)&oldid=999305558, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 9 January 2021, at 14:30. “Where The Heart Is” by Billie Letts tells the story of Novalee Nation, a pregnant country girl who rises to fame as the woman who gave birth in a Walmart. The damage from the tornado includes the Walmart, which is leveled to the ground. Favorite Answer. Willy Jack abandons Novalee at the local Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma when she uses the restroom and buys new shoes. He teams with cranky music agent Ruth Meyers (Joan Cusack), who gives him a makeover and the stage name "Billy Shadow.". Natalie Portman plays Novalee Nation, a 17 year-old, white trash girl with a heart of gold and a stomach bursting with her unborn child. Novalee continues to struggle with her feelings for Forney, who has become a daily positive presence in her and Americus' life. At the hospital, she befriends her nurse Lexi Coop who has four children with three different fathers. The story follows her as she establishes a new life without the involvement of the baby-daddy but of close friends that … Novalee also becomes acquainted with surly librarian Forney Hull (James Frain) who cares for his alcoholic sister Mary Elizabeth (Margaret Hoard). She takes a walk to the library where she meets Forney Hull, who helps her find books about the buckeye. Novalee's doubts about her self-worth manifest when Forney returns home to the news that the rebuilt library will be headed by someone else, leaving him without a home or job. We pull into Walmart, I have to pee, presure on my bladder, Pressure on my heart, I can feel him getting madder. Forney, who has followed Novalee to the Walmart, smashes through the Walmart window to help deliver her child, whom she names Americus. Forney, who had become only recently aware that she had been living in the store, breaks a window and helps her give birth. Jennifer. When Novalee asks him why he lied about the baby's heartbeat, Willy Jack, in a rare moment of self-reflection, tells her that he doesn't have a good reason to lie, but does it anyway, and out of all the lies he's ever told, that one was the only one to cause him guilt. The final scene is of their wedding, which takes place in a Walmart. It was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in December 1998. The film went on to make $33,772,838 at the North American box office, and an additional $7,090,880 internationally for a worldwide total of $40,863,718. Adrian and Michael Garza as Young Brownie Coop (. Severely depressed at his ruined career following the lawsuit, Willy Jack becomes a depressed alcoholic while driving with a woman across country. Moses tells Novalee to give her baby a name "that will mean something" and "withstand a lot of bad times," and gives her a photo album. Where The Heart Is by Billie Letts is about 17 year old Novalee Nation who's seven months pregnant and has just been abandoned at a Wal-Mart by her baby daddy. Novalee's marriage to Forney only occurs in the film. Shelby Callaway as Cherry Coop, one of Lexie's children. Novalee is 17, seven months pregnant, and superstitious about sevens: at the age of 7, her mother ran off with a baseball umpire named Fred, her best friend in seventh grade was arrested, and a crazy customer at her cafe job cut her from wrist to elbow, which "took seventy-seven stitches to close her up." Forney assures her that there is nothing better than she is. Where the Heart Is (1995), a romance novel by Billie Letts, was chosen as an Oprah’s Book Club selection in 1998. Related quizzes can be found here: Where The Heart Is . Her immature and abusive boyfriend, Willy Jack Pickins (Dylan Bruno), ditches her at a Wal-Mart and takes off on his own in … Where the Heart Is (2000) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. With Natalie Portman, James Frain, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing. But the next morning, when Momma Nell doesn't return, Novalee fully accepts that her mother is never coming back. The song "That's the Beat of a Heart" was performed by The Warren Brothers and Sara Evans. 17-year-old and seven-months-pregnant Novalee Nation (Natalie Portman) and her boyfriend Willy Jack Pickens (Dylan Bruno) are moving from Tennessee to California. Sister Husband eventually collects Novalee and Americus after they're discharged and moves them into the trailer in which she lives. Three years later, Novalee continues to study photography alongside Moses Whitecotton, and soon begins to take classes in photography at the local college. Willy Jack portrays a typical "abusive boyfriend" role in the story. She continues to Maine to find Forney at Bowdoin. Lexie's injuries hinder her nursing job, and she and her children have to move in with Novalee and Americus. Jessica Hinderliter as Young Baby Ruth Coop. The last thing he remembers is Novalee's voice. Sister Husband has brown hair in the movie and blue hair in the novel. With nowhere else to go, Novalee spends the afternoon at the Walmart and meets Sister Thelma Husband, a kind, spunky, and deeply religious older woman who runs the town's Welcome Wagon, and hands out chapters of the Bible to people she meets. An hour ago, seventeen-year-old, seven months pregnant Novalee Nation was heading for California with her boyfriend. In the novel, Sister Husband died from her injuries after being trapped in a trailer while visiting a neighbor. Directed by Matt Williams. As Lexi recovers in the hospital, Novalee moves the Coop family into her tiny house, and cares for the children with the help of her neighbors and Mr. Spock. [1] Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 35% approval rating, based on reviews from 97 critics, with the sites consensus stating that the film's "poor script and messy plot undermines the decent cast."[2]. Remember that game in school where the teacher would write the first sentence of a story and then pass it around the class? While Christmas tree shopping with Forney, Novalee is reminded that it is Americus' five-month birthday. He is subsequently arrested and sent to jail. Novalee tells him she really does love him and they return to Oklahoma and marry. It seems that this is the end of the world. Forney comes off as eccentric and standoffish, but agrees to help Novalee as she shows a burgeoning fascination for books and learning. In the film, Jolene's parents aren't mentioned. Lexi teases Novalee gently about her relationship with Forney, which Novalee insists is platonic, but Lexi is keenly aware that this isn't the case. She confronts Willy Jack in his hospital room and demands to know why he was trying to find her. Forney goes to Maine to bury his sister, When Forney comes back, he talks about visiting Bowdoin and Novalee suggest that he can now complete his education but Forney says he loves her and wants to get a factory job and stay with her, but Novalee ignores her feelings and tells him that she doesn’t love him like that and he leaves. it's what people do with mistletoe.” ― Billie Letts, Where the Heart Is Sister Husband initially "mistakes" Novalee for a girl named Ruth Ann Mott, gives Novalee a Welcome Wagon basket, and invites her to come visit her whenever she likes. Novalee makes Willy Jack place his hand on her stomach so that he can feel the baby's heartbeat - Willy Jack insists he feels nothing, and continues to treat Novalee and her pregnancy with annoyed indifference. After failing to get any money from his cousin in Bakersfield, he pawns the Martin, his last possession, in a desperate bid for money. Novalee builds a new home for herself and Americus on Sister's land. The community is brought together to rally around Novalee when, at seven months old, Americus is abducted by an Evangelical couple who forcibly baptize her. Novalee also meets Moses Whitecotton, a photographer who shoots portraits at the Walmart. She maintains strong friendships with Lexi Coop and Forney Hull, who has taken a sort of fatherly role with Americus as a teacher and mentor. In the beginning of the novel Novalee and Willie Jack are his car driving to Las Vegas due to the fact that he has an performance. Novalee finds the number 5 unlucky in the movie, and the number 7 unlucky in the novel. He eventually becomes desperate as his money runs out, but finds representation from Ruth Meyers, a no-nonsense agent who agrees to take him on under the condition that he never lie to her. A sickly and homeless Novalee is forced to live in the Walmart, undetected. Novalee Nation is a 17 year old girl who is seven months with child with her boyfriend a struggling artist named Willy Jack. A sickl… Where the Heart Is. Talk about unlucky sevens. Novalee learns that Lexie is seeing Ernie (Bob Coonrod), an exterminator who does not possess the physical attributes that have in the past attracted her interest, but she falls in love with him after learning he gave his ex-wife his restored 1967 Chevy Camaro in exchange for custody of his stepdaughter, whom he adopted as his own. Forney Hall: Yeah. He later manages to charm Claire Hudson, the solemn prison librarian mourning her dead son Finny, and uses her grief to his advantage. Mackenzie Fitzgerald as Americus Nation, the daughter of Novalee. Novalee is hesitantly grateful to accept the help and hands over the money she'd received from supportive strangers so that her mother can buy what they need for the baby. A pregnant seventeen-year-old rebuilds her life after being abandoned by her boyfriend at a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. Two months after she'd been abandoned, Novalee goes into labor in the middle of the night inside of the closed Walmart. In the novel, Moses has a wife named Certain whom Novalee also becomes close with when she and Americus move in with her following Sister Husband's death. Margaret Hoard as Mary Elizabeth Hull, the sick sister of Forney. Her estranged mother, Mama Lil (Sally Field), visits after seeing her daughter on television, but disappears with the money donated by well-wishers. Upon her return to Sequoyah, Novalee discovers Lexie has been attacked by a new love interest who molested her two eldest children, nearly beating her to death as she attempted to protect them. It's a parasite! Director Matt Williams developed the book into a movie starring Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd in 2000. In the novel, Lexie marries her co-worker Leon Yoder. Spock." In her memory, Novalee shoots a picture of Americus and the still-standing buckeye tree amidst the damage from the storm. Lexi is soon released, but she and Brownie become distant and withdrawn as a result of their trauma, and Lexi's guilt over allowing Roger to target her children. Now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, with just $7.77 in change. Summary Novalee Nation is seventeen, seven months pregnant, and on her way to California with her no-good boyfriend when he abandons her at a shopping mall in Oklahoma. Novalee realizes that the lie she has told that has changed her life is telling Forney that she didn't love him. This aspect of her character is removed from the film version. Novalee visits Willy Jack in the hospital and he confesses his whole life would've been different if he hadn't left her. Original music for the film was produced by Mason Daring. Americus is safely returned and the couple is arrested by the police. She is constantly trying new fad diets and weight loss schemes. He stops at a local dive bar and meets Jolene, the bar owner's teenage daughter. Seventeen-year-old Novalee Nation and her boyfriend, Willy Pickens, are on a cross-country trip to their new home in California. In the novel, Benny Goodluck gives Novalee a. This page was last edited on 28 January 2021, at 04:34. Now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, with just $7.77 in change. Lexi serves as the first real girlfriend that Novalee has ever had and provides advice and support, while Moses mentors Novalee in photography, and Forney brings her books to support her growing love of learning. Novalee soon finds out that she and her baby are famous and in the news, and begins receiving letters and money from strangers in the mail. She uses every resource at her disposal to clean up Willy Jack, and gives him the alias "Billy Shadow." She tries to choose a name for her baby before it comes, but the pain of her labor quickly overtakes her. Karey Green as Rhonda, one of Novalee's friends from Tennessee. The film follows five years in the life of Novalee Nation, a pregnant 17-year-old, who is abandoned by her boyfriend at a Walmart in a small Oklahoma town. When Forney does not appear at the funeral, Novalee finds him in a hotel and comforts him. How Willie Jack lands his ass in jail in the book is way different than that in the movie as well. She befriends Lexie (Ashley Judd), a independent minded, free-spirited single mother and moves in With "Sister" and her gentlemen friend "Mr. In the film, it was mentioned that Willy Jack's later cellmate Tommy Reynolds gave him his guitar. Willy Jack quickly grows frustrated at what he feels is Ruth Meyer's lack of clout, and tries to go behind her back to find a better agent. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. After the funeral, Novalee finds out that she is the beneficiary of Sister's estate, totaling around $41,000. In the novel, Ruth Meyers ends Willy Jack's career for going behind her back. Sam Walton, the patriarch of the Walton family and owner of the Walmart corporation, comes in to visit Novalee and offer her a job at the store where she gave birth, which Novalee accepts after some hesitation about people's reactions to her. Summary: Novalee and Forney decide to go to Tennesse to see Novalee's old friends and where she grew up. And if you spin a cow around real fast you'll get whipped cream. After a spell in prison and traveling to Nashville, Willy Jack becomes a one-hit-wonder after a slow start with "Beat of a Heart," a song he wrote in jail. The relationship is short-lived after Roger beats Lexi to within an inch of her life after Lexi discovers him sexually assaulting Brownie (Brummett), her oldest son. Where the Heart Is follows the lives of Novalee Nation, Willy Jack Picken, and their daughter Americus Nation for a period of seven years in the 1980s and early 1990s. Disclaimer: I don't own Where the Heart Is. 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