Hollywood North (2003)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Peter O'Brian

Writers:

Barry Healey (writer) &
John Hunter (writer) ...

Release Date:

12 January 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The camera never lies ... only the people behind it.

Plot:

A producer buys the film rights of a famous Canadian novel known as "Latern Moon" and plans the production...

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | Canadian Expatriate | Nymphomaniac | Canada | Movie Business

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Matthew Modine	...	Bobby Myers
Saul Rubinek	...	Paul Linder
Alan Bates	...	Michael Baytes
Joe Cobden	...	Howard Atkins
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Sandy Ryan
Alan Thicke	...	Peter Casey
John Neville	...	Henry Neville
Lindy Booth	...	Molly
Fab Filippo	...	Frankie Candido (as Fabrizio Filippo)
Clare Coulter	...	Lindsay Marshall
Sandi Stahlbrand	...	Leslie Carrington
John Bayliss	...	Customs Inspector
Jennifer Tilly	...	Gillian Stevens
Audrey Lupke	...	Joanne Jennings
Kim Coates	...	Scott DiMarco

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, language and drug content.

Runtime:

Canada:89 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Argentina:89 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A | USA:R | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Ballpark Productions Partnership

Trivia:

The character Lindsay Marshall is based on the well-respected Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The first film adaption of one of her novels Surfacing (1981) had similar problems as the movie "Road to Bogota" being made in this movie.

Quotes:

Lindsay Marshall: If God were Canadian, he would come down and destroy you and this production in a fiery apocalyptic rebuke!

Movie Connections:

References In Praise of Older Women (1978)

Soundtrack:

A Million Vacations

an amusing and thoughtful piece from one of Canada's top directors

This movie captures the absurd essence of an overbearing American patriot actor -- one that believes his work (and politics) are as crucial to the American people as the opinions of the President himself. Alan Bates captures this mindset perfectly as Michael Baytes, and I will immortally remember Bates as this character. This is a movie for Canadians and Americans alike. It is a valuable piece of cinema, that which is able to take its audience through the magic of making a film and reveal just how easy it is for the producer and director to lose complete control to the will of the actors and innumerable outside forces. Wonderfully, "Hollywood North" does not suffer from the subject that it portrays: Peter O'Brian directs with precision and complete control, and commands both the serious 'behind-the-scenes' portion of the movie, and the movie-within-the-movie, "Flight to Bogota" with clarity and insight. If you are at all interested in the wit and strength of Canadian cinema, "Hollywood North" is a great place to start.