More than the other Nora Roberts Lifetime telemovies I've reviewed this week, you may have recently heard about Nora Roberts' Northern Lights on entertainment news shows or read about it on-line because, according to some reports, this cable movie was the setting for a juicy Hollywood/Nashville scandal involving leads LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian. I can't help but think that particular story would have been more involving than this rather familiar (and let's face it: pedestrian) effort. It might pass muster if you catch it on TV, but actually owning the disc is another story.

Alaskan bush pilot Meg Galligan (LeAnn Rimes) doesn't mind at all taking a good, long look at newly-appointed police chief Nate Burns (Eddie Cibrian). Originally a cop from Baltimore (with a complicated past), Nate's relocation to Alaska promises (in his mind, at least), a respite from the pressures of his previous position. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth in Lunacy, Alaska (I'm not making that up). When two young climbers find the body of longtime missing resident Pat Galligan in a frozen cave - Meg's father - she wants Nate to take over the investigation, since the killer more than likely still lives in Lunacy. But the State Police ace Nate out, and that seems like the end of the matter until events force a change. Meg and Nate become lovers, and soon, a climbing buddy of Pat's turns up dead, too, in an apparent suicide. But big-town cop Nate knows better, and the investigation is on - one he hopes to solve before he's fired or killed.

SPOILERS ALERT!

There were one or two times in Nora Roberts' Northern Lights were I thought the film might break away from its too-familiar roots (Northern Exposure, anyone?) and its thoroughly conventional execution. I had high hopes at the very beginning of the film for the salty, snotty, straight-shooting Mayor Hopp character, played by Canadian stalwart Jayne Eastwood, but she quickly receded into the background and became as boring as the rest of the characters here. And during the scene right before Meg and Nate become lovers, where she switches gears from giving Nate a hard time to asking him point-blank for sex, I thought just maybe this movie might do something different. Had they kept the Meg character this unconventional (at least unconventional in terms of these TV romance movies) - a character who points out that two people attracted to each other should definitely act on that attraction because sex is fun regardless of emotional involvement - I might have warmed up to Nora Roberts' Northern Lights. But of course, since this is the genre it is, the two lovers actually fall in love (complete with talk of marriage) and that's all she wrote when it comes to characters who might have other ideas when it comes to sex and the requirement of marriage.

As for the mystery, it's no great mystery (anyone with a few years of TV viewing under their belt won't have any trouble figuring this one out), but it's not aided by us never really getting to know the victim, either (he's shown in an opening flashback, very briefly). We hear a lot of stories about how wild Pat was, but we never see it, even in flashbacks (probably a better idea), so it's hard to feel connected to his murder investigation. If you're going to make the victim a blank, you have to make the suspects interesting...and that doesn't happen here. As for the cast, I was disappointed no one seemed too interesting in using Rosanna Arquette to her full advantage here. Arquette, still looking good, could essay her type of character here - the single woman looking for love in way too many places - in her sleep; she wrote the book on sexy, carnal, dysfunctional women. Unfortunately, she's given little to do here, either, mostly playing sounding board to Rimes. As for Rimes and Cibrian, and their on-screen chemistry, there was an old theory in old Hollywood that 9 times out of 10, if the two lead actors were sleeping together off-camera, that chemistry wouldn't register nearly as strongly on-screen had the two stars hated each other - and for the most part, that little theory bears out. Rimes and Cibrian look good together, and they seem to be having fun, but there's nothing "magical" or "special" in their performances that would suggest extracurricular activities (maybe there weren't any). If I hadn't already known about the scandal, I would have chalked their performances up to "adequate" and not looked any further - there's nothing really of note on that score. And unfortunately, that's the same verdict for Nora Roberts' Northern Lights as a whole.

The DVD:

The Video:
Another great-looking Nora Roberts DVD. Nora Roberts' Northern Lights's image is quite sharp, with saturated colors and no compression issues in this anamorphically enhanced, 1.78:1 widescreen transfer. Nicely done.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English 5.1 audio track is far more than necessary for this largely dialogue-driven vehicle. Not much separation, but you won't be straining to hear the super-crisp lines, either. English and French subtitles are included, as well as close-captioning.

The Extras:
There are no extras for Nora Roberts' Northern Lights.

Final Thoughts:
It was pretty much a minor scandal, anyway. Nora Roberts' Northern Lights doesn't hold any surprises for those of you who have seen even a few of the countless "fish out of water" mysteries that abound on TV, nor does it offer a secret glimpse into the recent fracas surrounding Rimes and Cibrian. Too bad they didn't let the Rimes character stay sexy and horny and independent -- Nora Roberts' Northern Lights might have been interesting, then. A rental, maybe, for Nora Roberts' Northern Lights - but that's only for Nora Roberts completists.