There Is No Place Like Home

Dorothy said it best, there is no place like home.  Do you ever watch a movie and think, "Man, I wished I lived there?"  Sometimes the setting, scenery, and location of a movie makes it feel more real.  Here are some of my favorite movies where I think the location scout got it just right:


Home Alone

pic courtesy of Huffingtonpost.com

KEVIN!!!  Every time I watch this movie it makes me feel all warm inside.  Maybe it's because it reminds me of Christmas, maybe it's because this was one of the most popular movies of my childhood, but I always think about the warmth of the house in this film.  Even when the family is all together and acting nuts, because isn't that what happens during the holidays, or when Kevin is fighting off the bad guys, it's as if the house is it's own character.  The steps, that Kevin booby traps, the den that plays the movie with the gun shot soundtrack, it was Kevin's fortress and kept him safe.  Sure a movie can be shot all over the place but a majority of the scenes were shot in one home in Illinois, enjoy the trailer heavily featuring one of the best houses in movie history!

The Family Stone

photo courtesy of hookedonhouses.net

Prodigal son, Everett returns home at Christmastime with his uptight Manhattan girlfriend.  As she gets to know the family everyone wonders what they see in this less than endearing woman.    The casting in this film is great, (a secret career choice I would love to have!), the writing is great, and it takes the audience on a journey that makes all the emotional turmoil and judgements make sense, have your tissues ready!  But again I find myself drawn to the backbone of the film, the house.  Particularly the dining room table and kitchen where the storyline unfolds and relationships are tested.  This home feels lived in with a history that will hold for generations to come.

The Goonies

photo courtesy of thegoonies.org

How could the Goonies house not be in this list?  It's what they are fighting for, their homes!!  Set in a landscape that is certainly foreign to me living in Suburban New Jersey, but that's what makes it so magical.  Oregon was as far from where I lived as possible but that is what movies do, take you on a journey in a far away land where kids can become heroes, and learn some valuable life lessons along the way.  While most of the film was set outside of the house, how can you not remember the Truffle Shuffle.  According to recent articles if you go and visit there is a sign outside that says, "Goonies on foot welcome!"

Sleeping With the Enemy

photo courtesy of hookedonhouses.net

There are 2 houses in this movie, one that is so cold it freezes your blood and the other that is so cozy it warms it back up again.   You start the film on a beach house in Cape Cod, scary classical music, and a housewife who looks a little tense.  Then you realize she lives in a life of fear, getting beaten by her abusive husband.  The house matches the vibe: bare, cold, too perfect to really be lived in.  However according to Hooked On Houses.net only a facade was built for exterior shots.  Cut to Laura (played by Julia Roberts) escaping to Iowa to be closer to her mother, whose in a home, and to be free of her husband who thinks she's dead.  Unfortunately he is too smart for that, follows her there, reeks some havoc, and ultimately meets his demise.  But her Iowa house is everything the Cape Cod is not, it's country-style, cute, cozy, vintage and breathes life back into the shell of a woman she has become, plus having a cute next door neighbor helps!

Adore

Set in New South Wales Australia and again, brilliantly casted to be believable, this is a provocative movie about mothers and sons.  The story is compelling and a little creepy as two best friends fall in love with each other's sons.  I won't ruin the film since it's fairly new and I just recently watched it.  But the back drop setting in this film is breathtaking and indulgent much like the characters themselves.  And the houses each set of families live in aren't in my scope of real-life living but much Adored (Ha...Get it!)

Home is where the heart is right?  What are some of your favorite movie houses in this story from a video store!