Aurora Borealis
Regent Releasing | Release Date: September 15, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The real surprise here is Lewis, who seems to have finally hit on a role that balances her usual flakiness with smarts and an offbeat poignancy, and she delivers the strongest work of her adult career. Read full review
70
VarietyRobert Koehler
Alternately breezy and profound, pic hits enough emotional chords to connect with audiences, which will be charmed by a newly mature Joshua Jackson, a deeply aged Donald Sutherland and a friskily romantic Juliette Lewis. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Juliette Lewis makes Aurora Borealis into a funnier, richer, more powerful film than it has any reason to be. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirshling
Lewis, in particular, is a charmer; it's a loss that she never became an A-lister. And Jackson is, as always, earnestness itself. The movie would be a quality guilty-gloopy pleasure if it weren't so deadly overlong. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The latest "Dawson's Creek" alumnus to break out of his WB bonds, Joshua Jackson proves himself all grown up in this sweetly scrappy indie. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
Although it is overloaded with backstory and often tries too hard, Aurora Borealis finds a reasonable balance between romance and family drama. Read full review
60
Village VoiceScott Foundas
Aurora Borealisulth -- yes, that title eventually comes home to roost -- doesn't offend in any way, but it's so self-consciously quaint, so unwaveringly "nice," that you nearly wish it did. Read full review
50
The New York TimesNathan Lee
The fixation of independent movies on the arrested development of bourgeois dullards may have less to do with the relevance of the topic than the class of people who get to make movies. Whatever the case, James Burke directs from a screenplay by Brent Boyd. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Think you're depressed now? Wait till you see Aurora Borealis, which spends almost two hours watching Ronald Shorter, a suicidal old man, die. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
Most successful in capturing the emotional elements of its story, the film relies on its excellent cast to balance out sketchily drawn characters and the unfortunate obviousness of its plot. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleNeva Chonin
True, the film doesn't need 110 minutes to tell a story this pat, but hey, in dark times, it takes longer to deliver a feel-good message. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
The script offers neither character revelations nor plot twists. It unfolds by the numbers, like the product of an amateur screenwriter's salon. Its second-hand ideas originate in movies ranging from 1960's "The Apartment" to 1997's "The Ice Storm." Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
An unremarkable comedy-drama. Read full review
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