The third in an American heartland trilogy that includes "Twin Falls Idaho" (the best and brightest of the three) and "Jackpot" (a distant second), this movie (by twin filmmakers Mark and Michael Polish) is daunting to understand -- assuming there's a method to the muddiness in the first place.
Set in 1955, it's about a Montana town (Northfork) that is about to be removed from the map thanks to a proposed dam. Two days before the deluge, government agents go door-to-door, offering residents cash settlements to leave their homes. But the people of Northfork are hard-pressed to leave. The movie dabbles in fairy tale elements, religious iconography and magical realism, and there's clearly a sense of humor behind it (and, quite possibly, an appreciation for the work of the Coen brothers). But it's just too lost in its own presumed self-enchantment.
Michele Hicks and Kyle MacLachlan are part of the large ensemble cast in "Northfork."
(Paramount Classics)
|
|
The cast is full of well-known faces, including Nick Nolte, Daryl Hannah, James Woods, Peter Coyote and Anthony Edwards, but their collective presence doesn't help make the movie's woolly themes any easier to understand. The only way to receive this movie is intuitively -- presumably in the same spirit it was written.
NORTHFORK (PG-13, 94 minutes) -- Contains sexual situations. At the Cineplex Odeon Dupont Circle and Shirlington.
