Northern Borders
Northern Borders is a 2013 American drama film written and directed by Jay Craven and starring Bruce Dern, Geneviève Bujold and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. It is based on the novel of the same name by Howard Frank Mosher. Plot. In 1956, Austen Kittredge is sent to live with his conservative grandparents in Vermont. Austen Sr. and Abiah have lived together for 50 years but they won't even speak to each other directly and actually despise each other. Austen, called "Tut" by his Egypt-obsessed grandmother (the daughters are Nefertiti and Cleopatra), must do farm chores, even though  he doesn't like the idea. Austen also goes to school and meets Theresa, whose family is very poor. In addition to dealing with the conflicts between his grandparents, Austen must deal with their efforts to overcome reluctance to join the modern world. Reception. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 40% based on five reviews, with an average rating of 6.08/10." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Peter Keough of "The Boston Globe" wrote, "Craven's erratic  tonal shifts from the whimsical to the sentimental trip up the episodic plot." Neil Genzlinger of "The New York Times" wrote, "The most interesting thing about the movie is its origin story."