Infamous for a Reason

North marks the beginning of the end for Rob Reiner. From 1984-1992, he had a pretty huge run as a director (This is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally etc.) and everyone thought that this film would be another winner. Then it got bad reviews (most notably from Siskel and Ebert), it bombed hard at the box office, and has been a go-to punchline ever since. With that, what went wrong? Elijah Wood was a young rising star with him playing the title character, who decides to divorce his bickering parents (Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and find a new set of folks all over the world. You thought that might be simple, right? Nope. Once the plot kicks in, there is a bunch of offensive and unfunny jokes regarding racism, different cultures and poor puns. Plus Bruce Willis must have felt embarrassed by wearing a pink bunny outfit in his first scene. With Wood, Willis, Alexander and Dreyfus being the four main people in the story, along with a large group of talented actors involved in supporting roles like Jon Lovitz, Dan Aykroyd, Kathy Bates, John Ritter, Alan Arkin, Reba McEntire, Faith Ford and many others to count, how did they along with Reiner think that making North was such a good idea? Everything feels awkward and it's completely devoid of laughs. Following this debacle, Reiner bounced back briefly with The American President, but hasn't been exactly the same after that (The Story of Us, Alex and Emma, Rumor Has It, And So It Goes). North is completely infamous for a reason so while you're at it, watch either Siskel & Ebert's review of the film or the Nostalgia Critic's version of it, as they're more entertaining than that and stay far away from it at all costs.

2/10