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Really Surprised!

A different way of telling a story

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This picture was a Huston family project. The Director is John Huston's son Danny. His glamorous, versatile half-sister Anjelica has a cameo role that adds pizazz, class and sly humor. The gorgeous Virginia Madsen (John Huston's former daughter-in-law) has a key secondary role. The part of the super-rich patriarch was to be played by John Huston, but he died before the film was made and Robert Mitchum replaced him.With a screen play based on a Thornton Wilder novel, and a stellar cast, this film should have been better than it was. Still, I enjoyed it very much as just a pleasant upbeat fantasy. It could have been a G-rated family film but for a single brief scene of unnecessary fondling that didn't even seem to fit the boy scout selflessness of Theophilus North's character.The cast includes stars of old and new Hollywood as well as some whose stardom came from other media, including Tammy Grimes (star of Broadway's "On a Clear Day") and TV's Anthony Edwards (ER's Dr. Mark Greene.) But a couple of the actors deliver some lines as if they are in a script's first read through. Robert Mitchum seems horribly miscast. The part was really tailored for John Huston. While watching the film, before I later learned that the part had been intended for Joun Huston, I commented that the part was perfect for John Huston. While Robert Mitchum was a great film noir tough guy, this was not a role for him.Lauren Bacall, on the other hand, acquitted herself admirably and Tammy Grimes performance was interesting.

This is hardly an epic movie, but then again, it doesn't need to be. As another reviewer said, there are no aliens, nothing horrid occurs, no crashing soundtrack nor is there some deep dark message which You Must Get to enjoy the movie being thrown at you.Instead, this is a quiet way to pass a little bit more than an hour of time. Can you really ask that much more of a film? Given, the nastiness inherent in most modern films, I'd say that it's more than you'll probably find at your local cinamaplex these days.The cast is fine to exceptional with Mitchem in one of his last and most interesting roles, Huston looking terrific and Edwards as, well, Edwards. Helped by a rather stellar supporting cast, I can recommend this film to you as a full family type of event. By all means - take the kids and by the film's end, you'll all be in a better mood.

If you like thinking comedies this movie is for you, Harry Dean Stanton is like no Harry Stanton you've seen before. This is almost a parody on F. Scott Fitzgerald's work. The almighty upper-class with it's paranoia and superstitions as a backdrop to this scholarly, erudite young man, Mr North.Anthony Edwards is superb in this role as are the other players in the cast. Direction is flawless, but why not, Danny Huston is the son of the great Walter and son of John Huston. Photography is a picture book of Rhode Island. If slap stick comedy is your cup of tea, this movie isn't for you. Crisp dialog, and Bob Mitchum as you haven't seen before is delicious.Sit back and enjoy.

Mr. North is a charming,sophisticated and wittily performed comedy of manners.There are no aliens, nor special effects. What there is is a cast of perfection, who performs this tongue in cheek delight flawlessly. Edwards, Bacall, Stanton and the great Robert Mitchum head a cast that has just the right touch for this adaptation of Thornton Wilder's novel.Newport, Rhode Island is the exquisite setting for this little jewel.I could not help but wish that the film had been more successful financially, for then we might have availed ourselves of The Further Adventures of Mr. North.