Winter Passing

Zooey Deschanel is quite easily the most interesting thing about this movie. It is slowly paced. It is an examination of one woman's journey through an emotional roadblock. There are many aspects of this film that are out of place and a bit frivolous, all indications of a young or new filmmaker. However, I think it deserves more credit that the above description.

This film surprised me with its various nuances, many of which are the difference between a love affair with New York City and the hate that develops when it's inhabitant realizes just how wonderful (and horrible) home can be. In addition to that, it has been some time since a film was able to be charming without being too forced, something I think they do not ultimately achieve, but it is not without merit.

As mentioned above, it is worth the price of admission to watch Zooey Deschanel work her way from solipsistic bitch to humbled and hurt woman. She is raw, honest, fun, and a bit of a fu*k up. Ed Harris brings her character a bit more alive, but he himself it not at his best. As an actor he does a fine job, though I have a feeling he was left out to dry a bit by the young director. Will Ferrel almost makes his way through without being funny, though he is not removed enough from his Saturday Night Live characters to really pull through. The audience I was with seemed to love him. I nearly didn't see the movie because he was in it.

When it comes down to it this film is a first-time film director used to working in a theater medium. The writing is strong, the story interesting and for all it's pit-falls and loop-holes, it still manages to make an emotional impact. Give it a second chance.

Winter Passing introduces a few great characters inside of an interesting family reconciliation plot, but fails to deliver with the results. Deschanel does a great job anchoring the film's emotional context as the very multidimensional, seemingly jaded Reese and the always dependable Ed Harris does more with one eye then many actors can emote during an impassioned speech. Will Ferrell however, despite being the go-to comedic relief in a very somber film, simply cannot disappear outside of himself enough as an actor to ever truly play a character other then his endless Saturday night live variations, and to me his awareness almost condescends the film's emotional impact. Nevertheless, the film will have you engaged in the offbeat family situation we are thrust into, only to have it become tied up way too neatly and quickly at the end. This lack of a thought out finale will make the emotional attachments made throughout the film with the main characters not as hard hitting as the movie perhaps intended, but still delivers a pretty solid, if a little unfulfilled, drama.

Winter Passing is remarkable for several reasons. The performances of Zooey Deschanel and Ed Harris are resonant and moving. The look and the music of the film are quite lovely and evoke a hurt, longing that works well with the theme of the film. And finally, the story itself is remarkable for anyone who's familiar with the life and enigma of the writer J.D. Salinger. For anyone who has read his daughter, Margaret Salinger's wonderful memoir, "Dream Catcher," the film will play like a thinly veiled reference to her life with the highly lauded and tragically flawed father who is a legend and inspiration to generations and a horror as a father.

One of the challenges Winter Passing faces is getting the audience to empathize with characters enough to ride the film's emotional ups-and-downs. Director Adam Rapp took a risk by placing so many of the events which define each character outside of the story, instead conveying these details through conversations between characters (i.e. "Who's pills are these?" or "Who is Corbit and why does he live here?").

The potential reward of this "Tell-Don't-Show" approach is that the director can add dimension to the characters by providing a greater quantity of personal history and details. The risk, however, is that the audience won't invest enough emotionally in the characters to really care about what happens to them.

The acting was quite good; I'm always glad to see Will Ferrell push beyond his slapstick beginnings, and he and Zooey Deschanel have very believable chemistry. But by relying so heavily on dialogue and description, the film subverts the medium, and made it hard for me to identify with any of the four main characters.

drugs, sex, a disturbed girl with a disturbed past, her father is a salinger-esquire recluse, and when she doesn't want to find anything back home, she finds herself.

this is the description of this film and about 100 films a year at every film festival you attend. you can throw a ball into a pit of films at a film festival and hit a dozen of these. the only reason this one got made is because of the cast. that's it. it moves very slowly along and doesn't dare make an interesting scene captivating enough to wake you from your sleep. the only redeeming factor is Will Ferrell's character. he is quite funny and as you can imagine does at some comic relief. there is nothing special from this movie. there is nothing in this movie that separates it from any other indie film. don't expect much from this "how to make an indie film" film.