ZebraspotsNorth (1994)
March 13th 2008 04:31
Why are we in this film?
North (a young Elijah Wood) thinks that everybody appreciates him except for his parents (played by Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Seinfeld fame), so divorces himself from them and sets of on a journey to discover a new family. And so, the story of North (1994) is basically a disgruntled kid’s fantasy. The idea has the potential to be an entertaining children’s story, however, North’s visits to potential new parents becomes tedious and the story lacks a kiddish appeal. When North travels the world in search of his new parents, ambitious school friend, Winchell (Matthew McCurley) starts a child uprising with the help of lawyer, Arthur Belt (Jon Lovitz). This subplot turns the film into a political thriller, and by the third act of the film, Winchell is trying to have North killed. And not in a funny pretend sort of way, but by ordering a guy with a gun to shoot him. It’s little things like this that make North a confusing film. In one part of the film, North stumbles into a room where a comedian (Bruce Willis in one of his many roles in the film) is telling a sex joke. In another part, North pins Winchell against a wall and calls him an ‘asshole’. This film doesn’t work as a kids film, and it doesn’t work as a film aimed at adults.
Every movie in which the main characters are children has the potential to be very annoying, but the good news is that the child cast are ok actors. It’s funny seeing young Scarlett Johansson playing a minor role and squeaking a few lines of dialogue, ignorant that one day she’d be an indie film star.
I liked the appearances of Kathy Bates as an Eskimo mother. Ever since I saw her play an insane nurse in Misery (1990), she has a Christopher Walken quality in my mind. Also watch out for the guest appearance of Richard Belzer from Law and Order.
The most disappointing part of North is the cop out ending. This in itself was enough to make the whole movie bad.
1 out of 5
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