This is How Movies Should Be Made

Pretty Good

not horrible nor great

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Here's a bit of trivia about the making of this film. The character played by Anthony Edwards is hired to read to the character played by Robert Mitchum, a wealthy recluse who lives in a home with a well- stocked library. The elegant bookcases had to filled with elegantly- bound books, so the film crew asked the Newport Public Library for help in filling the shelves of the bookcases. I worked as an assistant to the cataloger at the library, and I was assigned the task of choosing such books from the books that we had in storage. We had several multi- volume sets with nice uniform bindings. I recall choosing a set of the works of Henry James (who was a regular visitor to Newport in his younger days) along with some other sets by various writers and some individual volumes that would look appropriate for the library of a rich man in the 1920s. John Huston was bed-ridden during the filming and died --- he did not die before filming started. I observed the filming of the parade scene -- I was relatively close behind the camera as it started to move on tracks to follow the parade. I hung around for at least two "takes," maybe three. Lauren Bacall rented movies at a Newport video shop which specialized in classic films (including silents) and foreign films. The name of the video store was Rosebud, and its owner was a film school graduate whose dog was also named Rosebud. I was a patron of the store and was friendly with the owner --- Bacall kept her updated on John Huston's deteriorating condition. Bacall recommended the store to Anthony Edwards and he came in regularly to rent movies --- when the owner told Edwards that she did not have a copy of "Top Gun" (his biggest movie role up to that time) in her store, he laughed. What did I think of the movie? -- as most of the other comments have said, it's a pleasant film -- not a great film, but an appropriately modest adaptation of Thornton Wilder's nostalgic revisiting of the summer he spent in Newport.

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 not a movie for most people unless you love Rhode Island or have a weird sense of humor. Im not saying this movie isn't good.....it just made me really tired. Almost falling asleep at 8:00 on a saturday is not regular for anyone! Until I saw a person I never expected to appear on this film. Mary Stuart Masterson(IM REALLY IN LOVE WITH HER)! Playing a girl named Elspeth Skeel. By the time I finished this movie, the only scene I really enjoyed watching was MSM smiling after feeling the touch of Mr. North's hand on her head. I love it when she smiles.

I watched this movie on cable today, compelled not by the film itself (which sadly isn't up to snuff), but by the story, and especially by the charismatic leading character. The face was vaguely recognizable, as was the warmth and humanity of the actor's performance. Although the film, replete with a sterling cast, fails on many levels, Anthony Edwards' does not. He captures the glow of the title character, and positively shines with compassion. It's an excellent example of a great actor rising above a shoddy script and making a role his own. I give the film 5 stars out of 10 . . . but I give Mr. Edwards a perfect score.