NORTHERN LIGHTS
US, 2009, 100 minutes, Colour.
Le Ann Rimes, Eddie Cibrian, Greg Lawson, Rosanna Arquette, Jayne Eastwood.
Directed by Mike Robe.
Northern Lights is an adaptation of a novel by Nora Roberts. The adaptations of Nora Roberts novels, romances, sometimes with crime, have been adapted for television rather than for cinema screens. This is also a television movie.
The setting is, of all titles, Lunacy, Alaska. Eddie Cibrian portrays a Baltimore police officer who has been shot and his partner wounded, who is escaping to work far away from home. He encounters a pilot, played by Le Anne Rimes. (Rimes and Cibrian subsequently married.) Rosanna Arquette plays LeAnn? Rimes’ mother.
The film opens with a murder, audiences will guess who the victim was fairly quickly into the film – and, with three main suspects, it is not difficult to pick the murderer.
The film is conventional, has attractive leads, the romance happens rather too quickly than it might in reality. However, it is an easy entertainment to watch on television.
1. The books of Nora Roberts, romance, crime, the exotic locations? Television movies?
2. The title, the visuals of the Northern Lights, Alaska, the title of the town, Lunacy?
3. The prologue, the murder, the victim and his writing in his diary – the possibility of his returning home?
4. Nate, his arrival, the contract with the town, the mayor and her welcome, the manager of the bank and his hostility, the deputy and his resentment? The other characters in the town? The meeting with Meg? Her work as a pilot? The council meetings? At the hotel? With Charlene? The party, Charlene and her approach, Meg – and his discovery that they were mother and daughter?
5. Nate as a character, his past, the shooting, the wife of his partner and the subsequent call? His job, his leaving Baltimore? Separating the two men fighting? The rescue in the mountains, the plane ride with Meg? Meg and her direct approach, her relationship with her mother and the tension? The response to the finding of her father’s body? Issues of jurisdiction, the police from beyond Lunacy? Reactions, the wake, Meg absent? Charlene and her being satisfied with the truth, its effect on her? Nate at Meg’s home, the dog, the Indian and the suspicions? The accusations about the murder, the editor of the paper, his coming into money after the disappearance, his suicide note? His wife’s grief? The banker and his being upset about his fishing gear being stolen, the accusation, the accused and his reaction? John, his devotion to Charlene, staying all the years, his decision to leave? The range of suspects?
6. The dog and the killing, the theft of the fishing tackle?
7. The bear, the dog and the confrontation, the setup with the moose meat? Nate as target?
8. Charlene as a character, her love for Peter, his disappearance, her thinking he had abandoned her and the daughter? Her response to the news? The past and Meg and her resentment towards her mother, their making peace, discussions about love and relationships?
9. Nate’s love, the proposal, Meg’s hesitation? Nate and his being sacked by the town council? His decision to investigate the case, suspicions of the editor’s murder?
10. The finding of the earring – out of the blue, the main clue, the photo and the identification of the murderer?
11. The parade, the police, Meg and her presence, being wounded, the float, the banker, mayhem and the shooting? The confrontation between Nate and the killer?
12. Popular ingredients – television entertainment?
