Overrated and overhyped

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Blistering performances.

Critically panned fantasy movie about a boy named North (Elijah Wood) who decides he wants new parents who will appreciate him more. So he takes the matter to court and the judge rules the kid has the summer to either find new parents or return to his old ones or else he'll be thrown in an orphanage. I didn't care for North (the character or movie). It's all done in a light-hearted and joking way but the story is just so unpleasant and the characters so unlikable that it was a real struggle for me to finish. I see what Rob Reiner & co. were trying to do with this but they just failed badly. Most of that blame can be laid on the script, which is full of selfish characters, cheap stereotypes, and juvenile jokes about balls and cracks. The visuals are nice and the cast, full of some big names, certainly try their best. It just seems like one of those movies that is made for kids but somewhere along the way someone decided they should try to have it appeal to adults, too, so the whole thing just becomes a big misfire. Best part of the movie is the not-at-all subtle Federal Express product placement in one scene. Must have cost FedEx a good chunk of change to have one of the biggest stars in the world (in 1994) say their slogan in a movie.

From the look and sound of it, "North" is a simple family-friendly movie about a young boy named North (Elijah Wood) who divorces himself from his parents to search for a new set because he feels they do not appreciate him. Underneath this facade is a film that like a shark hiding below the surface waiting to strike at unsuspecting victims. I can now see why the late Gene Siskel described this movie as "first class junk" and "trash".North is what can be described as a perfect child and has a perfect life, except in one area: his parents (Jason Alexander and Julia Louis- Dreyfus). North feels his parents do not appreciate him or pay him as much attention as they should. We are shown this by his parents not paying attention to him at the dinner table while they are in a heated argument. This one incident leads to him suffering in other areas of his life, including in academics, acting, and sports. North goes to his secret spot where he talks with a man in an Easter Bunny costume (Bruce Willis) and then decides that he will divorce himself from them. With the help of his lawyer Arthur Belt (Jon Lovitz), a Lionel Hutz-esque lawyer who unlike Hutz from "The Simpsons" is very unlikable and unfunny. The other person who helps him out is his friend Winchell (Matthew McCurley) who with Belt is planning on using North's story to have children take over.North wins the case and travels across the world to places like Texas, Alaska, China, France, and New York, with the stereotypical representations of the people going from seemingly innocent comedy to downright racist and hurtful. North meets an array of parents including Texans (Dan Aykroyd and Reba McEntire) to a nice New York couple the Nelsons (the late John Ritter and Faith Ford). Along the way, North realizes that what he really wants is to be with his real parents and goes to meet up with them.At the same time, a subplot goes on about the illogical and incomprehensible plan of getting children to take over and put Belt in office. The kids act like evil geniuses while the adults are bumbling buffoons who go along with this or are so frightened by the idea of their kids leaving them that they will bow to their every demand. Their plan, even in the film's universe, is illogical and wouldn't work. Going along with this plan are strangely a number of adults, including a hit man named Al (Robert Costanzo) who is tasked with taking North out so he does not return to his parents. Al lies in wait while North finally reunites with his parents and is shot, only to discover that the film sank to the level of having it's events all be a dream.Another large problem with the movie is the character of North. North wants to divorce himself from his parents because he says they are selfish and only care about themselves and leaves the other possible parents he meets for reasons like they are uncaring like with the set of parents in Alaska (Graham Greene and Kathy Bates) and so on. All of the problems that North finds with his parents and the other potential parents are all with him, too. He thinks the Alaskan parents are uncaring when he just dumped his real parents and he thinks his real parents are selfish while he is an egotistical little brat who thinks he is the greatest thing ever. He leaves his parents claiming their disaffection with him is ruining the rest of his life when it must not have been all bad if it just started taking a toll. Also, all we know is that he wants to leave them after they would not acknowledge him while they were in the middle of an argument at dinner. He is exactly what he hates. This is in no way the fault of Elijah Wood. Wood is a quite talented actor but no actor, no matter how good could pull this role off.The film is littered with talented actors like Bruce Willis, Elijah Wood, Dan Aykroyd, etc., but none of them manage to save the movie or put in a performance that makes the film bearable, and you can't blame them based on the material they're working with. The humor is unfunny and racist at times, the premise is hurtful and heartless, and the lesson at the end is one we could learn from watching the far better and far more entertaining film "The Wizard of Oz".This film is the three H's: hateful, heartless, and horrible. Gene Siskel described the movie as "first-class junk" and claimed it made him feel unclean. He was being too nice. "North" is a horrible movie that will make you feel horrible inside instead of heart-warmed like you were obviously supposed to be.

I noticed that some people on this site are giving this god-awful film good reviews. Anybody giving this film 5 or higher is either A)A troll B)Blind and deaf C)Really stupid or D)One of the cast or crew of this film Sorry but this film belongs in the dustbin of history. Rodger Ebert was correct about this film. I hated it even when I was a kid. OK so here is the "plot"(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS THEN SKIP AHEAD TO THE END OF MY REVIEW) North(Elijah Wood,BEFORE he was Frodo)is a kid that has parents that don't see his talents and is upset about this. So one day he is at a mall and gets visited by Bruce Willis(Who is some pedo in a bunny suit) and tells him to make up with his parents,but he doesn't listen and hires a lawyer to divorce his parents(This causes his parents to pass out). So he moves to Texas where he meets a stereotypical western family that sing a REALLY bad musical number about the things that they are gonna do to him. So he leaves and goes to Hawaii where he meets a stereotypical Hawaiian couple named Mr. and Mrs. Ho (Some last name). They plan to display a picture of North's ass on billboards on every major highway in the mainland. This causes North to go to Alaska where he movies in with Sarah Palin and her family! Nah,I'm just kidding,he didn't move in with Sarah Palin,but he did move in with a family that is just as bad. The family is a stereotypical Inuit family,and the lady of the family is Kathy Bates wearing BLACKFACE to portray an Inuit. He then tries a bunch of other families that are ethnic stereotypes then tries to go back to his original family, but he is shot and wakes up. Yep. The film ended up using the "It's-all-a-dream" cliché. (SPOILERS END HERE) This is a horrid film that deserved the bad reviews that it got. Oh and don't try to defend this film by going "It's a kid's film!" Bullshit. I know it's a kid's film,but that doesn't mean it's immune from criticism. Kid's films have standards to. The fact that it's a kid's film doesn't make it OK for it to have awful jokes,a crappy plot,and offensive ethnic and cultural stereotypes. In conclusion:North is a horrid film that deserves all the bad reviews that it got.

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