A Snowy Day in Oakland

A Snowy Day in Oakland was a solid film about a block of Oakland entrepreneurs and a church minister who tried to live their lives and run their businesses or church in an ethical manner.

The strength of this film was its cast and the comedy that was prevalent throughout the film. On the other hand, this movie did a good job of weaving through the comedy and dramatic aspects of its script.

I'm glad I saw the film because it made me laugh and it showed that amid all the hate and danger in this world, that people can still come together and help each other as well as get along with each other.

A well-written, well-acted ensemble that I didn't guess until the closing credits (that include photos of the characters' prototypes) to be an obvious roman à clef, that added a little depth to what I'd just seen. The only flaw was the direction was a little clunky at times so that the pace flagged here and there. But overall it's a charming film. Last week I watched a documentary on the highly-regarded hit sitcom "Cheers", and A SNOWY DAY IN OAKLAND is not unlike "Cheers," with a cast of characters who all have their flaws, but you like almost all of them anyway, partly because of those flaws. SNOWY, like "Cheers", even has a head-butting couple who seem to still love each other despite their acting otherwise (Sam and Diane in "Cheers") and a chatterbox postal worker who grows on you despite the chatterbox eccentricity (Jeanette in SNOWY, Cliff Clavin in "Cheers").