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Aurora Borealis

Play trailer Poster for Aurora Borealis R Released Apr 22, 2005 1h 50m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 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.
Aurora Borealis

What to Know

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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Critics Reviews

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John Hartl Seattle Times 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. Rated: 2/4 Oct 6, 2006 Full Review Wesley Morris Boston Globe Good Will Hunting but in the Midwest and minus the tortured math genius, psychological breakthroughs, and convincing local color. Rated: 2/4 Oct 6, 2006 Full Review Neva Chonin San Francisco Chronicle 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. Rated: 2/4 Sep 29, 2006 Full Review Peter Calder New Zealand Herald It's predictable and ultimately quite trivial, but Sutherland alone is almost worth the ticket price. Sep 1, 2007 Full Review Felix Gonzalez Jr. DVD Review What holds Aurora Borealis together is the complex and very realistic relationships between the characters. Jul 10, 2007 Full Review Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid What looks like a goopy, disease-of-the-week movie about Alzheimer's turns out to be a surprisingly well crafted, beautifully acted movie. May 10, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member 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. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Frances H Aurora Borealis is a film that I didn't really like because it hits too close to home, to close to reality to the point that although it is well acted, I didn't find it really entertaining. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/01/13 Full Review Audience Member they use the song "everything is broken" as the theme and that sums it up Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member all star cast is the fuel that propels this family drama Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member I really liked this movie, the cast was good, it was a funny and good story told well. very enjoyable Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Nothing much happens here, but it's rather endearing nonetheless. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Aurora Borealis

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Cast & Crew

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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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Movie Info

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