Winter Solstice

Saw the film at Tribeca, and was very taken with it. So few films show normal, non-violent life to be as dramatic and as sweet and as hurtful as it really can be. This film does. The acting is terrific. The direction stays out of the way of the actors and the story. A young man has a hearing impairment, for example, but this is never called attention to or made maudlin use of--it's just there as part of the family's reality. Same with the missing mother. That's part of the back story, and no one is going to spend minutes explaining it to the audience, you just enter into the family's life as it goes on. Every moment is entirely believable, and usually, touching as well. I am afraid it may not reach many viewers, since it has not sex or violence to speak of, just the truth of family life.

i viewed this film at the premiere on the Paramount lot. My thoughts ... placid on the surface but it had this continual bubbling beneath that serves to create this underlying tension and anxiousness which make you wonder ... where is this story going? thin on plot, yet masterly made .. the director was able to extract superlative performances from EVERY cast member which made this film work. This film is subtle and many aspects will be lost on most. This won't be a box office success but will pay for itself ($1m budget), it is a fantastically crafted piece and is in essence, a beautiful film. well done anthony la paglia for doing this low budget film and for giving such a fantastic emotional and well balanced performance that rubbed off onto all.

WINTER SOLSTICE (2005) *** Anthony LaPaglia, Aaron Stanford, Mark Webber, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Michelle Monaghan, Brendan Sexton III, Ebon Moss-Bachrach. (Dir: Josh Sternfeld)

Echoes of "Ordinary People" and a first-writer's novella.

Anthony LaPaglia is an excellent actor whose talents have been lately on the small screen in the TV crime drama CBS hit "Without A Trace" but on screen it's been awhile since he's had the chance to shine and in his latest film his talents are on full display.

LaPaglia plays Jim Winters, a recently widowed father of two teenagers, attempting to hold things together including his moderately successful landscaping business in the lush suburbia of New Jersey. After the car crash that killed his beloved wife and the apparent glue to his brood the Winters family has been in a state of flux with his eldest son Gabe (Stanford) restless to break free from his dead-end job at a restaurant and his youngest son Pete (Webber) is aimlessly attempting to rebel by being a chronic late-to-riser and winding up in summer school much to their chagrin. All the while Jim has kept his grief to himself and apparently blaming himself.

Enter Molly Ripkin (Janney of NBC's "The West Wing") a newcomer who enters the picture as a neighbor's house sitter who breaks Jim's cloud by moving in a few doors down enlisting Jim to help her move in and by returning the favor invites him and his boys to a dinner. Jim is naturally awkward and still trying to heal his new wounds but sees some salvation in this sudden change of events but still must deal with his head-strong sons when Gabe announces he's saved enough money to drive down south to stay with a friend in Florida, even leaving his girlfriend Stacey (Liv Tyler look-alike Monghan) behind.

Novice filmmaker Sternfeld (making his directorial debut) – who also wrote the screenplay – tiptoes around the familiar angst in suburbia route that "Ordinary People" furrowed 25 years ago but shrewdly makes this more of a character study than a soap opera melodrama; the film feels like a first time writer's early novella. His casting of LaPaglia anchors the film with an implosive anger and rising feel of uncertainty yet doesn't rely on pyrotechnique of the human emotions that often blister what is lurking under the surface of complacency: fear and anger. LaPaglia has a few nice moments where the emotions are bubbling (I especially liked his encounter at a teacher/parent meeting where he almost bursts out in barely restrained ire) and tries to find his footing when Janney enters the picture; he clearly wants to move on but is plagued by his own hatred of himself which is subtle yet on display with his interactions with his sons.

The acting is fine – Janney is a drink of ice water in an arid story of sadness and dislocation; Stanford and Webber have a good feel for their characters as not atypical teens and Livingston has some fun as the summer school teacher who seems as bored as his charges with ancient history.

The only problem overall is the pacing seems a bit off and is arguably too low-key prompting the viewer to expect a fireworks display of feelings to come skyrocketing out of nowhere but this is not what Sternfeld has in mind and yet the stillness works. As does the rustic guitar-playing acoustic score by John Leventhal.

A nice little indie film with some assured acting and interactions that often are overlooked in the multiplexes, even in the wilds of Jersey. Trust me, I had to venture to the jungles of Manhattan to catch this gem.

"Winter Solstice" is a quiet, almost all-male counterpart to "Imaginary Heroes," dealing with the same theme of family grief, and was even filmed in the same town of Glen Ridge, NJ.

Debut writer/director Josh Sternfeld perfectly captures the inarticulatelessness of working class guys, particularly in father/son and brother/brother interactions.

Anthony LaPaglia as the landscaper dad and Aaron Stanford as his restless older son add to the minimal script with on screen charisma. It's sweetly charming how absolutely clueless they are in their lack of communication with the women who are attracted to them, but Allison Janney and Michelle Monaghan are overly understanding minor characters in their intersections with the dad and older son, respectively. I presume this is to emphasize the hole in their lives caused by the absence of the mother.

The problem is that without either more intervention by the women or the alcoholic violence of Sam Shephard's male family explorations, authentic looking and sounding guys hanging out together don't do very much or resolve issues. Pretty much the only plot point is the older son's gradual decision to leave --though I was surprised he has LPs to pack up--and how the other characters react to that.

It was nice to see Brendan Sexton again, more filled out, but he looked distractingly like the younger son played by Mark Webber so that I was confused at first that he was the best friend not the brother.

John Leventhal's intricate guitar playing on his original score is almost distractingly good. The song selections are beautiful sounding, though not particularly illustrative.

What happens when a spouse dies? There are no tender flashbacks in this film showing the husband and wife in their marital bliss before the wife dies. This film is about what happens afterward. Even five years later, the reverberations are being felt by the husband and his two young adult sons.

Keep your expectations realistic, and this film delivers. In a key scene, a high school history teacher asks the class, "Why did the Mongols turn back when they were poised to roll up Europe like a carpet?" Pete, the younger son, seems to know, but doesn't care to answer. The teacher offers to let him out of class (a makeup summer class) if he can answer.

Pete finally takes the bait: "Their leader died and they didn't know what to do." There you have it. Does the filmmaker do any more to explain what troubles this family? Yes, but you have to put the pieces together yourself. He doesn't make it hard; he just doesn't grind it up and put it in a baby food jar.

The film builds to some very touching scenes that explore the impact of loss on the three remaining family members. If you're interested in exploring how real people deal with the real issue of loss, you'll find something here.

The ending comes before you want it to, sure. There are no easy answers offered by the conclusion, but that's the way life is.