58
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70VarietyRobert KoehlerVarietyRobert KoehlerAlternately 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.
- 70SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirJuliette Lewis makes Aurora Borealis into a funnier, richer, more powerful film than it has any reason to be.
- 67Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyLewis, 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.
- 63New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThe latest "Dawson's Creek" alumnus to break out of his WB bonds, Joshua Jackson proves himself all grown up in this sweetly scrappy indie.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenAlthough it is overloaded with backstory and often tries too hard, Aurora Borealis finds a reasonable balance between romance and family drama.
- 60Village VoiceVillage VoiceAurora 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.
- 50The New York TimesNathan LeeThe New York TimesNathan LeeThe 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.
- 50New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoThink you're depressed now? Wait till you see Aurora Borealis, which spends almost two hours watching Ronald Shorter, a suicidal old man, die.
- 50Los Angeles TimesKevin CrustLos Angeles TimesKevin CrustMost 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.