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Sometime in the 70s, American filmmakers began flocking to Canada to make
their films—because it was cheap. Toronto became “Hollywood North.” And as Americans
started making more movies in Toronto, a few Canadians decided to get in on the scene,
too…
In 1979, former lawyer Bobby Myers (Matthew Modine) decides to get
into the Canadian film industry—to make the movie version of Lantern Moon, a
well-loved Canadian novel. But before he can get his investor (Alan Thicke) to fork over
the cash, he has to find a Big Name Hollywood Star. So he travels to Hollywood and meets
with Michael Baytes (Alan Bates), an aging (and somewhat paranoid) star who might
be willing to make the film—as long as he gets to approve the final script before filming
begins.
It isn’t long before Myers’ production flies wildly out of
control. Baytes turns out to be of questionable sanity—and his rewrites turn the film
from a touching drama into Flight to Bogota, an action film with a strong
pro-American political message. (One of my favorite lines from the movie is Myers
yelling, “They sold me a defective star!”) Toronto is hit with a freak snowstorm in
August, which delays filming. One of the actors decides to do his own stunts and is in a
major accident, which means that he has to be replaced. The leading lady, Gillian
(Jennifer Tilly), has a reputation for sleeping with her co-stars. Myers’ partner spends
most of his time in Baytes’ trailer, doing coke. And it’s all being caught on film by
Sandy (Deborah Unger), another filmmaker who’s in charge of the making-of
movie.
Hollywood North is a little bit campy and a little bit
over-the-top—making it a whole lot of funny. The characters—especially the psychotic
Baytes and the befuddled Myers—are fantastic. And the film’s climax is unbelievable.
Sure, the movie does an excellent job of making Americans look like insane, sex-crazed,
ultra-political drug addicts. But we are talking about American movie
stars here—so it seems to make perfect sense to me.
My only
complaint is that the conclusion falls a little short. After such a spectacular climax,
I expected a more interesting denouement. That, however, is rather insignificant. As a
whole, Hollywood North is a fun, quirky movie—and it’s well worth checking
out.
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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