Interesteg
What makes it different from others?
Bluebell Alcock
Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Rio Hayward
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Neive Bellamy
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Bonnie O'Connor
Even if I had not seen reviews from Siskel and Ebert or Doug Walker, I'd likely come to the same conclusion about how embarrassingly awful this movie is. The plot is about a boy named North who divorces his parents and travels the world to seek out new parents. Okay the plot sounds interesting, so why is it so horrible? It's when he starts traveling the world where everything becomes wrong. First he goes to Texas where everyone is a stereotypical cowboy in fancy costumes, accents, all about being big, and an awful country song. The whole scene makes me wonder if Reba McEntire felt dirty (being from Oklahoma) about her scene and if Dan Aykroyd (Canadian born) had to write an apology letter for not portraying anyone from Texas right. Then he goes to Hawaii where everyone dresses in grass, flowers, shirts, and eager to show off North's butt. Not kidding. And then he goes to possibly the most offensive stereotypical scene in the movie: Alaska, where everyone lives in Flintstone-like igloos, Kathy Bates slaps on make-up to look Alaskan, and the elderly are cruelly sent away on ice blocks for no other reason than they're such an embarrassment to the society. I try to be forgiving of some movies people deem "racist" because I often believe that the writers directors didn't intend for it (like Phantom Menace or Willy Wonka) or I just don't recognize it as well as others. But this movie has absolutely no excuse. There's no subtly about what culture they're mocking, and when it tries to represent real life it is humiliating and hard to watch. On top of that, the parents themselves are horrible (even taking out the racism). One set wants to fatten the boy, the other wants to show off his butt, the next wants to get rid of his would-be grandfather, and so on. And it never explains how he signed up for these parents in the first place. He just flies to their "village" and temporarily lives with them. As for his real parents: they're just plain unfunny. Every joke written for them falls flat and makes no sense, which is a tragedy since they're played by funny actors. Eventually it reveals that the whole thing was just a dream. I guess you can say that it explains the stereotypes, but it also means that the director thinks he could get away with it. Also, it indicates that the entire movie was frustratingly pointless. Also, I'm pretty sure that any nine year old boy (American or not) would know that these places are nothing like this movie. If I had to say anything good about this movie it is that the actor of North (Elijah Wood) gives a really good performance, and of course would lead him to go star in better roles. In fact all the actors are really good and try to give a great performance, even if the script and jokes fall flat. Even Bruce Willis who has to wear a bunny costume, cowboy outfit, Federal Express outfit, and so on actually tries to be dignified in his role, even though the script failed him. Also that awful song in the Texas scene is a reminder that Reba and Dan are terrific singers.Sadly, none of the great performances could save this movie. It's pure racist garbage. I don't care if Rob Reiner's father believed in "laughing at themselves", this movie is where none of the jokes work and come out as offensive for kids and adults.
murray-strome
I have difficulty in understanding the low rating given by other reviewers (unless the absence of violence, gratuitous sex and profanity deserves low rating with some reviewers). While it may not be an Academy Award winning candidate, it is really a fun, entertaining and movie which my wife and I found to be hilarious! Good, clean, entertaining movies which are enjoyable for the whole family are all too rare. Unless you like profanity, violence and sex in a movie I highly recommend this for the whole family. We had no idea what it was about, but got "hooked" on it after the first few minutes and enjoyed watching it to the end. It has an excellent cast, and all performed well.
ejonconrad
I'll admit, I'm a fan and a connoisseur of bad movies, and I only watched this because I read Ebert's famous "hated, hated, hated" review. I figured anything that bad had to be at least interesting. Unfortunately, Ebert's review is far more memorable than the movie itself, and probably gave it a lot more attention than it deserved. The movie isn't bad in any really notable or entertaining way, just lame, annoying, and ultimately forgettable. It poses an interesting question; namely, what makes one movie "quirky and charming" and another - well, this? After all, some of the best movies by people like the Coen Brothers or Wes Anderson have fantastical characters and plot elements, and are occasionally mean- spirited. In contrast, this movie falls flat at every turn. There's not a *single* funny line or likable character, but the quality of the acting and production is high enough that it even fails to be "so bad it's good". Oddly, I think the movie it reminded of most was Myra Breckinridge. Both movies are similarly colorful, surreal, remarkably star-studded, completely unfunny, and genuinely unpleasant to watch. Of course, unlike Myra Breckinridge, this was supposed to be a kids' movie!It's lucky that Rob Reiner has so many other great movie to his credit, and generally comes across as a likable guy. Not everyone would be forgiven for this.
Christian_Dimartino
And the award for worst movie i've seen recently goes to... North. Talk about a misguided, morally deceased, un-funny, corny, painfully dumb, and over long kids comedy. I honestly enjoyed Kazaam, where Shaq plays a genie, more than this. Don't get me wrong, that movie is awful also. But with a premise as ridiculous and stupid as this, it's truly doomed from the start.The film revolves around a boy named North(young Elijah Wood) who feels neglected by his parents(Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss). So he hires a lawyer(Jon Lovitz) to disown him, and he goes around the world looking for new parents, which include a cowboy couple, Amish people, and Eskimos. Meanwhile, this annoying kid, really annoying, is practically taking over the planet, and trying to persuade other kids to disown their parents.Half of Hollywood is in this movie, and do you know why? No, seriously, I'm asking you. Did Bruce Willis, Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Jason Alexander, Jon Lovitz, Kathy Bates, John Ritter, Dan Akroyd, Reba Macintyre, or even it's unfortunate director, Rob Reiner ever read this script? It's awful. I hated it from the first ten minutes. Who wrote this book? It's garbage. It's as if the writer was seven. I've already told you what else is awful about it from the opening paragraph. But if I haven't said it, I will: THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES EVER MADE. To quote Roger Ebert in his review for this film: "I hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this film."F