Christina Ponders the Level of Suckitude in *Anywhere But Here*

          I watched Anywhere But Here in high school, years before I read the book. I would compare Mona Simpson's book to something written by Rosellen Brown. Both authors seem to mine deep into the human psyche, dragging up some pretty unsavory things. This movie, on the other hand, doesn’t even dig deep enough to find the lost action figure a two year old might have accidentally buried in the garden. 

         Yeah, yeah, the mother and daughter don't see eye to eye. Yeah, yeah, life sucks when you're on the road with your crazy old mother. And why not kill off one of the minor characters in a car accident while we’re at it because that’s always a good way to startle the audience out of a mid-movie slump, right?   It's not that these things didn't happen in the book;  the only difference is that Mona Simpson managed to write a book that included these plot points without having it suck.
       
           I wouldn't say that the book was the best thing I've ever read. In fact, I'm sure there will be a lot of people who will hate it and think it is the most disgusting book ever written, but the one thing you would never call it is predictable.

         Natalie Portman is not a bad actor (if we are to assume the Academy knows talent when it sees it, and I'm feeling pretty generous at the moment).  Neither is Susan Sarandon.  They just didn’t have much to work with here. Nowadays, this seems to be a reoccurring theme with Susan Sarandon and her choice of roles. I know that there comes a point in any actor's life when they have to choose between their dignity and their career, but it's pretty sad that, nowadays, when I hear that Susan Sarandon is in a movie, the question isn't whether or not the movie will be any good, but whether or not it will suck more or suck less. It's the level of suckitude in question.

          Anyway, this is only my opinion.   Take it for what it’s worth.