Summary

Elijah Wood enjoyed his role in the 90s film "North," despite criticism from Roger Ebert.
Roger Ebert strongly disliked "North," calling it audience-insulting, resulting in poor reviews.
"North" features a star-studded cast and is currently available for free streaming on Tubi.

When people think of the actor Elijah Wood, usually, the first thought is Lord of the Rings, but before starring in the iconic franchise, Wood had a role in a 90s comedy/fantasy film that didn't go down too well at all with critics, especially Pulitzer Prize winner Roger Ebert, who slammed the film hard. However, as it turns out, Wood loved his time on the Rob Reiner-directed movie, which was based on a 1984 novel, and now audiences can watch it for free to make their own minds up about it.

Elijah Wood, who played the iconic hobbit of the Shire who inherited the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Baggins and started the whole adventure off, was only 18 years old when he touched down in New Zealand to begin filming for the movie. After many years of seeing his character on a quest to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom, Wood knows a thing or two about what makes a great movie. Previously, Wood thought that Tim Burton's version of the beloved children’s story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which starred Johnny Depp, "destroyed the book and destroyed the original film," referring to the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder. However, now, Wood has revealed the movie that he really enjoyed starring in and that everyone else seemingly hated.

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By Rachael Fiddis

Elijah Wood’s Favorite Childhood Performance Was Hated by Film Critics

Speaking to ComicBook at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 to promote his upcoming movie The Toxic Avenger, Elijah Wood revealed that the film he is most proud of is his part in the 1994 Rob Reiner-directed movie North. “I haven’t seen this in a long time, but I had such a fun time making it,” Wood stated. “It was much-maligned at the time. Famously, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel hated it.” The film revolves around eleven-year-old North, who grows tired of being largely ignored by his parents, who are too occupied with their own lives to care about him. Finally, having had enough of their lack of care, North files a lawsuit against them, with the judge giving him the option of finding new parents, leading the young boy to take off on a globe-trotting adventure to find grown-ups who will look after him.

When Wood mentioned that North was "much-maligned", he wasn't joking. It was even stated as one of Rob Reiner's worst films, and its Rotten Tomatoes score of 14% pretty much proves its point without too many words. However, film critic Roger Ebert went the extra mile on how he felt about North, saying that he "hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it," which is a very strong comment. Even though the movie was a commercial failure, it stars a great line-up of famous actors like Bruce Willis, Jon Lovitz, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and even a young Scarlett Johansson making her big screen debut at only nine years old.

For those who would like to check out the film themselves and see what all the fuss is about, North is streaming right now for free on Tubi.