There's no question that "North" is eccentric and wacky, nor that it tends to shoot off all its best fireworks by the halfway mark. But much of the way, "North" is also a very funny skit film, bolstered by some goofy celebrity guest appearances.
Unfortunately, most of the film's biggest laughs are also in the trailer, that preview that has been showing in movie theaters for a couple of months now. If you've seen it a time or two, it tends to soften some of the film's bigger laughs.
"North" is based on a novel by veteran TV writer Alan Zweibel ("The Tonight Show," "It's Garry Shandling's Show"), who also co-wrote the screenplay. The story begins as 11-year-old North (Elijah Wood) realizes he is unappreciated by his self-absorbed yuppie parents (Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, both of "Seinfeld").
So, North makes kids'-rights history by declaring himself a free agent, with the intention of finding more worthy parents. His declaration is upheld in court by a zany judge (Alan Arkin), who gives him until Labor Day to do so. If he fails, and if he does not return by the appointed time to his own parents, North will be remanded to an orphanage.
So, North, with assistance from a weaselly lawyer (Jon Lovitz) and a power-hungry peer named Win-chell (young Matthew McCurley), solicits applications and weeds through hundreds of first-class airline-ticket invitations to travel the world and meet prospective parents.
Included are a hyper, ultra-wealthy Texas couple (Dan Aykroyd, Reba McEntire), a laid-back Eskimo couple (Graham Greene, Kathy Bates), the image-conscious governor of Hawaii and his wife (Keone Young, Lauren Tom), an Amish family right out of "Witness" (yes, that really is Alexander Godunov and Kelly McGillis) and, finally, the TV-perfect '50s-style family (headed by John Ritter and Faith Ford).
Some of these skits are more amusing than others, and there is a fluffy TV sitcom feel to all of this (including some inside jokes for TV-watchers). (It's important to remember that all of this is a perception of the world through the eyes of a modern TV-generation child's point of view.) But there are also many genuinely hilarious moments, especially as North encounters his "guardian angel" (Bruce Willis, at his most amusingly laconic) everywhere he goes.
Elijah Wood has fast become the most appealing young actor making movies today, turning in consistently solid performances in a variety of roles ("Forever Young," "The Adventures of Huck Finn," "The Good Son") — and putting his much higher-paid contemporary, Macaulay Culkin, to shame.
But about halfway through, the film begins to run out of steam and gets rather sluggish. Then, as it winds down, the tone becomes unexpectedly dark as Winchell, who has parlayed North's dilemma into a high-rolling business venture, hireS a hitman to kill him. (There is also a vulgar sex joke told by a standup comic near the end of the film, which seems wildly inappropriate in a "family film.")
Despite these problems in the movie's latter half, there are enough big laughs up front that families looking for something different may enjoy "North." Just don't go in expecting something as satisfying as director Rob Reiner's "The Princess Bride."
"North" is rated PG for violence, a few mild profanities and a couple of vulgar jokes.