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Northfork

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Northfork (2003)

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Reviews Counted:99

Fresh:56

Rotten:43

Average Rating:5.9/10

Consensus: Visually poetic, but may be too dramatically inert for some.

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: "We are all angels. It is what we do with our wings that separates us." In the next two days, the town of Northfork will cease to exist. The year is 1955 and Northfork is literally about... "We are all angels. It is what we do with our wings that separates us." In the next two days, the town of Northfork will cease to exist. The year is 1955 and Northfork is literally about to be "dammed," flooded to make way for a new hydroelectric project. The town's rugged plains are going to drown, its Heartland houses will be swept away and its citizens are heading for higher ground. With the exception of a few stoic resistors. Now a team of six trench-coated men has been charged with removing the last few stragglers before it is too late. As the Evacuation Committee spreads out across Northfork, they encounter a group of people not quite ready or willing to leave. They are each in limbo. Some are looking for a sign. Others are hoping for a miracle. Yet, one way or another, they will all have to say goodbye. Among these tenacious individuals are a lustful young couple, a man who has built an Ark (complete with a pair of wives), and a frail orphan whose fevered visions have led him to believe he's the lost member of an ancient herd of roaming Angels calling him home. Northfork is a beguiling story of loss and resurrection, about adjusting to the strange new places towards which we sometimes find ourselves heading. Blending surreality and history, the film is spun in the manner of an American fairy tale that tackles such themes as land, life, faith, death, the afterlife and the power of dreams with a distinctively playful touch. Northfork is the latest installment from the Polish Brothers, who previously won acclaim for Twin Falls, Idaho and Jackpot, the first two films in a series about America’s Heartland -- and the country's shifting dreams and visions. The film is directed by Michael Polish and written and produced by Mark Polish and Michael Polish. The ensemble cast includes Nick Nolte, Daryl Hannah, James Woods, Anthony Edwards, Claire Forlani, Peter Coyote and Kyle MacLachlan. Paul Mayersohn and James Woods are the executive producers. -- © Paramount Classics [More]

Starring: Nick Nolte, James Woods, Daryl Hannah, Anthony Edwards

Starring: Nick Nolte, James Woods, Daryl Hannah, Anthony Edwards, Kyle MacLachlan, Peter Coyote, Mark Polish, Claire Forlani, Duel Farnes, Robin Sachs, Ben Foster, Michele Hicks, Graham Beckel

Director: Michael Polish

Director: Michael Polish
Screenwriter: Mark Polish, Michael Polish
Producer: Michael Polish, Mark Polish
Composer: Stuart Matthewman
Studio: Paramount Classics

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Reviews for Northfork

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

It plays out, dreamlike, often beautifully shot and visually appealing, but seemingly without purpose.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
08/30/03
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

This pretty odd little fantasy-drama is more likely to leave audiences scratching their heads than it is to warm their hearts.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
08/22/03
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

There is a lot less going on in Northfork than its dour acting, odd symbolism and funereal take-us-seriously-or-else tone would suggest.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
08/22/03
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

This is the strongest, most cohesive film from the brothers Polish.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
08/21/03
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

Northfork will give you food for reflection or a case of the hives.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
08/19/03
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

The sympathetic might describe 'Northfork' as a cinematic poem or allegorical fairy tale. The uncharitable might prefer such terms as 'hokum' or 'hooey'...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
08/11/03
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

There is a posture of icy remove to the Polish brothers' film that washes everything in the same bleached palette employed in M. David Mullen's faultless cinematography.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
08/10/03
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Funny and alive and visually delightful.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
08/10/03
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

The jokey elements are artificial, and strike a note of banality that undermines whatever sense of transcendence the film might be attempting in its stark, sweeping cinematography and mystical, dreamy milieu.

Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | comment Comment
08/09/03
Steven D. Greydanus
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide

Beware of smarty-pants filmmakers run amok in small-town America.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
08/07/03
Kevin John Bozelka
Kevin John Bozelka
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For me, the Polish brothers marched down a road leading nowhere.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
08/07/03
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

A compelling juxtaposition of the poignant and the bizarre, a movie that tosses moviemaking rules into the nearest Cuisinart.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
08/07/03
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

This surreal vision of a place and people on the cusp of extinction weaves reality and fantasy into a totally enveloping, dreamlike state of mind.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/06/03
Mark Halverson
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review

What the brothers lack in discipline, they make up for in visual inventiveness.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
08/05/03
Kim Linekin
Kim Linekin
eye WEEKLY

This Polish brothers' drama, about the imminent flooding of a small Montana town, takes on the unfortunate air of an inside joke that you're not invited to share.

Full Review Source: Movie Boeuf | comment Comment
08/05/03
David N. Butterworth
David N. Butterworth
Movie Boeuf

Surreal, oddly punny, and yet mostly a meditation on letting go of the dearly departed.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
08/05/03
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

A movie for surrealists and movie-lovers and admirers of the vanishing Heartland.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
08/03/03
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
08/02/03
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

For those on its peculiar wavelength, everything fits. For those who aren't, it's a painful piece of self-impressed drivel. Either way, you'll know you've been to the movies.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
08/02/03
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This formidable work is for no one except those who are truly tired of formulaic movies and crave something completely different.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
08/01/03
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Northfork

August 22, 2005: Billy Bob to Become an "Astronaut Farmer"
Billy Bob Thornton will star in the Polish Brothers' satire known as "The Astronaut Farmer," says Variety. Mark and Michael Polish penned the screenplay, and... More...

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