Aurora Borealis

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Aurora Borealis

R

2005

1h 50m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

68%

Tomatometer

38 Reviews

64%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

IN his mid-20s, Minneapolis native Duncan Shorter (Joshua Jackson) still lacks direction in life, so when his grandfather (Donald Sutherland) falls ill, he takes a job as a handyman in his grandparents' residence so he can be near them. While there, he falls into a relationship with a free-spirited home-health nurse (Juliette Lewis) who can help him move toward self-realization.

Critics Consensus

Deeply reminiscent of other, better films, Aurora Borealis nonetheless succeeds on the strength of winning performances from Sutherland and Jackson.

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John Hartl

Seattle Times

10/06/2006

2/4

Seems designed to reward Jackson with his biggest adult part to date, though it doesn't give the Vancouver, B.C., native a lot to work with.

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Wesley Morris

Boston Globe

10/06/2006

2/4

Good Will Hunting but in the Midwest and minus the tortured math genius, psychological breakthroughs, and convincing local color.

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Neva Chonin

San Francisco Chronicle

09/29/2006

2/4

Every bromide, plot twist and stock character arrives right on time and, to give director James Burke his due, function as well as they ever have.

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Peter Calder

New Zealand Herald

09/01/2007

It's predictable and ultimately quite trivial, but Sutherland alone is almost worth the ticket price.

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Felix Gonzalez Jr.

DVD Review

07/10/2007

What holds Aurora Borealis together is the complex and very realistic relationships between the characters.

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

05/10/2007

What looks like a goopy, disease-of-the-week movie about Alzheimer's turns out to be a surprisingly well crafted, beautifully acted movie.

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03/01/2014

cursed again; jackson couldn't emote his way out of a wet paper bag. did not could not support this film. lewis and sutherland did admirably well in picking up the slack.

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04/22/2012

they use the song "everything is broken" as the theme and that sums it up

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02/09/2012

all star cast is the fuel that propels this family drama

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02/08/2012

I really liked this movie, the cast was good, it was a funny and good story told well. very enjoyable

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02/01/2011

Nothing much happens here, but it's rather endearing nonetheless.

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01/24/2011

As relacoes entre os personagens sao muito verdadeiras. Gosto disso, de roteiros que tentam simplesmente contar a vida como ela Ã©.

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James C.E. Burke

Director

Joshua Jackson

Duncan

Donald Sutherland

Ronald

Juliette Lewis

Kate

Louise Fletcher

Ruth

Zack Ward

Lindstrom

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Synopsis

IN his mid-20s, Minneapolis native Duncan Shorter (Joshua Jackson) still lacks direction in life, so when his grandfather (Donald Sutherland) falls ill, he takes a job as a handyman in his grandparents' residence so he can be near them. While there, he falls into a relationship with a free-spirited home-health nurse (Juliette Lewis) who can help him move toward self-realization.

Director: James C.E. Burke
Screenwriter: Brent Boyd
Distributor: Entitled Entertainment
Production Co: Entitled Entrtainment
Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 22, 2005, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Sep 15, 2006
Release Date (DVD): Apr 3, 2007
Box Office (Gross USA): $60.6K
Runtime: 1h 50m