North (1994)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writers (WGA):

Alan Zweibel (novel)
Alan Zweibel (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 July 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family

Tagline:

North's hopping mad with his parents, and now he's off on a world wide adventure!

Plot:

Eleven-year-old North has had it with his parents. They are always busy with their careers and don't give North the attention he needs...

Plot Keywords:

Parent | Child's Point Of View | Reflection | Child | Hawaii

Awards:

1 win & 9 nominations

Cast

Elijah Wood	...	North
Jason Alexander	...	North's Dad
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	North's Mom
Marc Shaiman	...	Piano Player
Jussie Smollett	...	Adam
Taylor Fry	...	Zoe
Alana Austin	...	Sarah
Peg Shirley	...	Teacher
Chuck Cooper	...	Umpire
Alan Zweibel	...	Coach
Donavon Dietz	...	Assistant Coach
Teddy Bergman	...	Teammate
Michael Cipriani	...	Teammate
Joran Corneal	...	Teammate
Joshua Kaplan	...	Teammate

MPAA:

Rated PG for a few words.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-3 (2001 re-rating) | Finland:S (original rating) | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | UK:PG | USA:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Alaska, USA

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

Featured the lone film appearance of Brynn Hartman, 'Phil Hartman''s wife and eventually murderer.

Quotes:

North: What are you doing here?
Gabby: Well I finished all my chores, I thought I'd get a little shootin' in.
North: No I mean, have you ever been an Easter Bunny?
Gabby: Easter Bunny?
Pa Tex: Careful, Son, Gabby's killed men for less than that.
North: Oh, sorry.
Gabby: No harm done.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Taxi Driver (1976)

Soundtrack:

THEME FROM THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW

The most pathetic attempt at a family movie ever.

Kids need to enjoy movies, and frankly I think in general family comedies are a really lame genre to begin with because almost all of them suck. North is a prime example that just because you have crap loads of star power doesn't make a movie good. In all fairness though it's the script and story that hurt this movie the most, and the acting does too but it comes a distant third.

This movie actually manages to waste the talents of Jason Alexander, Jon Lovitz, John Ritter, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Dan Aykroyd, Reba McEntire, Elijah Wood, Abe Vigoda, Kathy Bates, Ben Stein, Bruce Willis(Whatever little talent there is anyway), which is the worst crime of all. Oh sure, this movie tries to be funny but whenever it makes a joke it comes off as something written by a desperate man who hasn't written comedy in his life. More often than not you'll hear a "joke" and your reaction will either be "That wasn't funny" or "wow, that was almost funny". You'll be saying the former a lot more than the later though. Wait till you see the disturbing musical number. If you somehow made it that far I guarantee you will eject the movie from your DVD player at this point in the movie.

The story is about a kid(Elijah Wood) who decides to "divorce" his parents because they don't care about him. So, North gets adopted by different families, each family even less funnier than the last! He goes from Texas to Hawaii to Alaska(I think)to Amish country to Africa to China to Paris to Miami. He finds himself somehow dissatisfied with them all and keeps moving around trying to find a place where he will be accepted as actual "family". Out of ALL these places he goes to, he can't seem to ever be satisfied though! What the hell kind of lesson is that? If you're not satisfied with your family kids just leave home and try to find happiness on another continent! In fact, you can do it again... and again if you want! This is just wrong! This whole movie doesn't make a lick of sense.

Basically, it's a cruel little movie designed to induce suicide among the audience. I mean think about it, this movie was from the man who directed Spinal Tap and The Princess Bride, and now he gives us... North? Although, I still gotta say this probably isn't as bad as George Lucas's fall from grace when he made The Phantom Menace, I do find North to be equally matched by it in putridity.

Thankfully however, the only one who suffered the most from this movie(besides the audience and several producers) was Rob Reiner. It's too bad most people couldn't see The Phantom Menace for what it was, then maybe George Lucas would have learned a very valuable writing and directing lesson.

Sorry for digressing so much, but anyway North ends on a terribly clichéd note that anyone who regularly watched the Bob Newhart show or Dallas will find sickeningly familiar(got a guess ready?).

So, I don't think I need to tell you anymore to convince you to avoid North. It's not just bad, it's really, really bad. It's not even good for a cheesy laugh. The movie is just downright disturbing, what with the overuse of ridiculous stereotypes and hints at child molestation throughout. I highly recommend you donate your copy of this movie for use in microwave experimentation.