This quirky film is in the small sub-genre of “kids dealing with emotional stress because of the turbulent relationship of their artist parents” films. Reese Holdin (Zooey Deschanel, HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY) is a struggling actress in New York City, who can’t even drum up the strength to go to her mother’s funeral. Then a book publisher named Lori Lankey (Amy Madigan, FIELD OF DREAMS) informs Reese that her mother has willed her a collection of letters that she and Reese’s father Don (Ed Harris, APOLLO 13) wrote to each other while they were working on some of their best known books.
With the promise of $100,000, Reese heads back home to find former Christian rock guitarist Corbit (Will Ferrell, ANCHORMAN) and Shelley (Amelia Warner, QUILLS), Don’s much younger, former student, living in the house while Don has moved into the garage. Don is so distraught that at times Shelley has to spoon-feed him. And like all “great writers” in films, he’s eccentric/borderline crazy. He has Corbit move all his bedroom furniture out onto the lawn so they can hit golf balls in the room. Oh, those kooky creative types.
As time goes on, Reese becomes less resentful, coming to like this strange family unit. Deschanel brings the right kind of sardonic wit to her role. Ferrell does what he does best — be funny. However, with a more complex character to play with, Ferrell is allowed to be subtler then all of his previous performances. Harris is good, but he’s played this kind of character before and better.
Director/writer Adam Rapp brings smarts and the perfect mood to his first picture, however the eccentric behavior becomes too cute as time goes on and then less believable. Yet, the actors put themselves fully into the roles, which helps when the story feels like we’ve seen it all before. Rapp also allows the characters a lot of room to grow, which provides compelling characters arcs. For a strange drama that also has some good laughs, WINTER PASSING has some chilly edges that will surprise those aware of the conventions of dramas about people who create and the one’s that suffer for it.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
