NORTH STAR (1996) *1/2 Not a tale of the defunct Minnesota hockey team, but that would have been more interesting and artsy, and would have made better use of the ice. Instead we get James Caan trying to act really, really evil as the head of a bunch of honkeys who steal Inuit land and more important (to the honk's) mineral rights, beat them up, kill their dogs, hog up all the good whores, and make them flee very quickly in excellent sleds (whores and Inuits both). The problem with a sled chase in a snow storm is that the landscape doesn't change much and you not only can't see the sleds going anywhere, you can't see the sleds. Not that the bad guys deal exclusively in racism, the Caan men are ripping off well meaning white immigrants too, even Swedes! So if you already live there they'll rip you off, if you just showed up they'll rip you off too. Equal protection maybe, but that's quite enough! Send for the calvary, who inexplicably even stand up for the rights of the Indians. So it's historical revisionism, or fantasy, or at best an isolated incident. Sludged out script down the stretch renders any accumulated cachet null, there's no excitement in a goldrush that obviously isn't real and involves a bunch of nuts who don't exist anyway. The arctic tundra would be beautiful without all the humans running around it, but I don't know that that was the point.
back to Brilliant Observations on 2525 Films page, or Index
go back home, or send me email
Reviews won't do it any more! I need sustained brilliance! I want to buy your exciting new terrorist novel!
I've already read both of your novels. Thank you, they're amazing. Now I want to check out your weekly blog on everything