Winter Solstice

In Winter Solstice Josh Sternfeld's debate as a director is a true original. This is a movie that shows exactly how men communicate. Men tend to avoid emotional conversations. Some women may look at this negatively because of their frustration with this fact. Women would love to see their men discuss their inner most feelings and share in their pain and happiness.

This movie shows the truth behind men's issues with showing emotion. Many people would consider it an ego thing. I think it is more of pride in oneself. Men were brought up to stand on their own two feet, and to make it on their own steam. This is exactly what Jim Winters(played by Anthony Lapaglia) deals with in raising his two sons on his own.

Jim and his two sons have to make it on their own after the loss of Jim's wife. The three communicate in a truly male way. Not saying much, but saying a lot in how they act and react.

I could relate to this movie so well because all of the conversations I had with my father were very much the same as in this movie. If you are a man who wants to see men portrayed in the light they deserve go see this movie. If you are a woman frustrated with not being able to talk to your man, take some time to watch this movie and try to leave any prejudice at the door.

Winter Solstice is not an exciting movie by any stretch of the imagination. Its about everyday life and how men deal with their lives. Go see it, but don't expect some major complicated plot. Its as uncomplicated as most men are.

Josh Sternfeld has done the unthinkable. He has elected to tell a story merely by allowing the viewer to overhear the minimal dialogue of the characters without supplying a linear plot or explanation of how a little family fell apart.

Landscaper Jim Winters (Anthony LaPaglia is a brilliant role) is the single father of two sons - Gabe (Aaron Stanford) who is the older and looking for ways to move away from his boring little small town home to find breathing space in Florida, and Pete (Mark Webber) a confused kid who wears a hearing aide and only sporadically seems to tune in to life and school. The three men live a fairly orderly life since the death 5 years ago of the wife/mother in a car accident which Pete survived. Jim tries to maintain some semblance of family but just cannot quite step out of his ill-defined grief to get a perspective on life. Obviously some forces of change are needed to heal this family of men.

Into the neighborhood moves Molly Ripkin (Allison Janney) who is house sitting for friends while she breaks away from being a paralegal to try her hand at making unique jewelry. She connects with Jim, tries to connect with his sons, but at the least she introduces a figure of gentle concern and focused presence. Pete finds some understanding from a summer school teacher (Ron Livingston) and begins to see some concept of meaning to his life. Gabe's decision to leave for Florida's promise of better life means he also must say goodbye to his only rock of realism - his girlfriend Stacey (Michelle Monaghan). With all of these elements of change in the air the story just ends. What will happen now is left to us to decide.

Yes, the film is slow moving, relying on minimal dialogue and more on silences and gazes. But Sternfeld opens this little family drama in such a tender way that we find ourselves wholly committed to the plight of each character. He makes us care. And that is the true beauty of minimalist art in film-making. The acting is first rate, with LaPaglia and Janney giving performances that deserve attention come awards time. Highly recommended for those who appreciate quiet sensitive films. Grady Harp

This is a very low-key film in which the action is inaction. LaPaglia's character, Jim Winters, in particular lives in the silences between the sounds. The film is redolent with the ghosts of unsaid words therefore as the viewer one must approach this film with the knowledge and appreciation that this is intended as a thought-provoking piece of cinema and so has no really big bursts of emotion. All the cast act beautifully, but as one has come to expect of Anthony LaPaglia he is outstanding. He plays a widower who after five years has still not come to terms with his bereavement, and as a result, though seemingly living an ordered day to day existence, in reality he finds it increasingly difficult relating to life in general and specifically to his two teenage sons. LaPaglia's portrayal is subdued and masterful; I don't think I know of any other actor who can so eloquently inhabit a role by apparently doing so little - definitely this is a case of art concealing art. This is a sensitive and rewarding film. And for all those guys out there who want this film to have some male endorsement, my husband liked the film very much when I asked him to watch it over Christmas, so it must be good.

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 went to see Winter Solstice in the Vancouver Film Festival this evening and was very surprised at the subtlety and restraint used by the director to ensure the film was emotional with over acting. It is a very peaceful film that explores the parents view of children leaving home as opposed to the child's view. A tremendous cast and great performances from Anthony LaPaglia and Mark Webber. Also a brief appearance from Ron Livingston in which he always has a way stealing scenes as the most likable guy in a room.

Very impressive little film with beautiful scenery of New Jersey, tremendous cast and an appealing change to cinema that is more than overwhelmed with actors who love to hear themselves speak.