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Actors: James Woods, Nick Nolte, Duel Farnes, Mark Polish, Anthony Edwards, Darryl Hannah, Peter Coyote
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Northfork |
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This film is the last of the Polish brothers trilogy of films about rural small town America (see Jackpot and Twin Falls, Idaho). In the film, Northfork is a small rural town that has been evacuated (except for a few holdouts) to make way for a dam. A team of six men, working in pairs, have been given a contract that will reward each of them with prime waterfront acreage if they can clear 65 households and the story begins with the pairs working on the very last households. James Woods and Mark Polish play one of the pairs as a father-son team named Walter and Willis O'Brien. The O'Briens literally have a secret buried in Northfork; Patricia O'Brien, wife and mother to Walter and willis, respectively, was buried in the Northfork cemetery and they have not yet evacuated her coffin. The O'Brien's struggle to move the last residents of the town parallels Walter's own struggle to accept Patricia's death. When Northfork is cleared, Walter is finally able to face the reality of his wife's death by digging up and moving her coffin.
A second story line concerns Irwin (Duel Farnes), an orphan that has been adopted from Northfork's Halo Home, run by Father Harlan (Nick Nolte), only to be returned to the now empty orphanage because he is dying. The film often portrays Irwin's dreams, which are peopled by the few symbols of his existence: Cup of Tea, Flower Hercules (based on his comic book and the flower Father Harlan places on Irwin's nightstand), Cod (the cod liver oil he has to take) and Happy, a reader with fantastical glasses and interchangeable wooden hands (there is a wooden hand vase holding the flower, and perhaps "Happy" represents Irwin when he was able to see and experience the world). These dream characters are looking for the "unknown angel." Irwin tells them he is the one they're looking for and asks them to take him on a journey of a 1,000 miles. It's all very symbolic, as Halo Home had advertised to prospective parents that they could "spend an afternoon with an angel" when they came to meet the orphans.
In the end, Irwin gets to accompany his dream characters on an even farther journey; he dies, becoming the angel they were seeking.
--Karen Law, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Northfork |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1930's-1950's
Inner struggle or disability
Yes
Brain/Body not working?
- dying
Coping with loss of loved one?
Yes
Coping with loss of
- Wife/girlfriend/squeeze
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- religious figure
Age:
- 60's-90's
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) long girliemon hair
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 90%-100%
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Midwest
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- thoughtful
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Karen Law
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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