Where the Heart Is (2000)

Novalee Nation is seventeen year old and pregnant who goes off to travel to California with her loser boyfriend. When she tells him to stop at Wal-Mart so she can use the bathroom and replace her shoes, afterward she leaves the store to see that he has left her stranded. She meets a woman named Sister Thelma Husband who mistakes her for one of her relatives, then gives her a Buckeye Tree. But when Novalee goes back to Wal-Mart because she feels sick, she discovers the store is closed and dark, so she stays there without anyone realizing it. She goes to the library to read up about the tree where she meets Forney Hull who's there caring for her sister, the librarian. After Novalee has her baby (which Forney assists with delivering in the store and is deemed The Wal-Mart baby) she meets up with Sister and she takes Novalee in to help with the baby. Novalee also befriends her nurse Lexie Coop. Sweet and touching; Natalie Portman is absolutely wonderful, she is the glue that holds the film together. Based on the best-selling novel by Billie Letts. Starring Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing, Joan Cusack, James Frain, Keith David 8/10