Aurora Borealis

Duncan (Joshua Jackson), a depressed twentysomething living in a rundown section of Minneapolis, has just lost another job. He has another source of income, letting his brother use his apartment for extramarital trysts. On a rare visit to his grandparents, Ronald (Donald Sutherland) and Ruth (Louise ...more

Compared to your typical depressive slacker drama, James Burke's Aurora Borealis has a few things in its favor. First, it has a very specific sense of place. The film milks its icy Vikings-obsessed Minneapolis location for all its worth, both visually and thematically. There's also a very strong performance by Donald Sutherland as the main character's Parkinson's-riddled grandfather. Sutherland takes what could have been a bathetic role as a sickly, sentimental, and suicidal man and fully ...more