Northfork

RATING: PG-13

STARRING: James Woods, Nick Nolte, Daryl Hannah, Mark Polish, Anthony Edwards, and Peter Coyote

DIRECTOR: Michael Polish

PRODUCERS: Mark and Michael Polish

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Paul F. Mayersohn, James Woods, and Damon Martin

WRITER: Mark and Michael Polish

DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Classics

GENRE: Fantasy/Allegory

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Adults

SUMMARY: Northfork is a weird, sometimes pretentious, allegorical fantasy about a Midwest town being evacuated because the government is building a new dam. In addition to some foul language and brief passionate kissing, Northfork's cryptic references to the Bible and Jesus Christ provoke a cautious attitude toward its ultimate worth.

Set in 1955, Northfork stars James Woods as Walter O'Brien, a black-garbed government agent who's traveling with his son, Willis, to convince the remaining townsfolk to leave. Nick Nolte also stars as Farther Harlan, a kindly but irascible cleric who's taking care of Irwin, a dying, bedridden orphan boy abandoned by his adoptive parents.

Despite its heavy symbolism, which also includes references to non-religious things, Northfork lacks much point to its story. Although the movie, which contains some foul language, has a lot to do with the subject of death, it's hard to know what exactly the movie is trying to say about the subject.

CONTENT: An apparently Romantic worldview, with some cryptic Christian and biblical symbolism, including cleric prays to God to take dying, suffering child and quotes biblical passage about Noah and the Flood as well as some possible false religious notions about angels and dying and one angel's name, Cod, sounds like "God," which may confuse viewers; nine obscenities and two strong profanities; man fires shotgun several times at government agents, image of construction explosion on dirt in order to build dam, and man falls; brief partial rear nudity.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Jul 21, 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved