Winter Passing (2005)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Adam Rapp

Writer:

Adam Rapp (written by)

Release Date:

8 September 2006 (Poland)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Sometimes you go looking for something you want. . . and find what you need.

Plot:

Actress Reese Holden has been offered a small fortune by a book editor if she can secure for publication the love letters that her father...

Plot Keywords:

Book Editor | Love Letter | Actress | Book | Student

Cast

Zooey Deschanel	...	Reese Holden
Darrell Larson	...	Director
John Bedford Lloyd	...	Leontes
Deirdre O'Connell	...	Deirdre
Mandy Siegfried	...	Ruth
Amy Madigan	...	Lori Lansky
Dallas Roberts	...	Ray
Ivan Martin	...	Bartender
Robert Beitzel	...	Rob
Laurie Kennedy	...	Nun
Will Ferrell	...	Corbit
Ed Harris	...	Don Holden
Mary Jo Deschanel	...	Mary
Amelia Warner	...	Shelly
Sam Bottoms	...	Brian

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some drug use and sexuality.

Runtime:

USA:98 min | Argentina:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Finland:K-11 | Portugal:M/16 | USA:R (certificate #41000) | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Stratus Film Co.

Trivia:

The piano song played in the end of the film is 'Bittersuite' composed by Zooey Deschanel.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the movie, their car has a front license plate. Cars don't have front license plates in Michigan.

Quotes:

Shelley: Would he ever showed you his stuff?
Reese Holdin: I had to buy every book he has written.
Shelley: Must have been an interesting childhood.
Reese Holdin: Yeah. Competing for atention with twin No.3 Underwood typewriters won't do too much for your self-esteem.

Movie Connections:

References "Cops" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Didn't Feel a Thing

Voice of the Illiterate

Greetings again from the darkness. When writers attempt to tackle too many themes in one story, usually none are complete. Writer and Director Adam Rapp (brother Anthony is of "Rent" fame and has a brief cameo in this one) is extremely ambitious as he explores parenthood, artistic genius, friendship, community, guilt and the desire to feel love and pain. Surprisingly Rapp is mostly successful in pulling off a most complex script.

Ed Harris stars as a reclusive writer with more than a nod to J.D. Salinger (his last name is Holden ... get it?). In poor health and being taken care of by a former student (Amelia Warner) and a broken down rhythm guitarist (Will Ferrell), Harris is taken aback when his long lost daughter (Zooey Deschanel) shows up one day. Drastically altering the dynamics of this bizarre little community, Deschanel literally steals the film. She spills her soul on screen and we somehow understand her habit of slamming her hand in a drawer just to feel something. She is a pitiful person seeking redemption and her place in life.

Harris and Warner are fine in their roles, but Ferrell is a real distraction. As a viewer, we don't see the character. We see Will Ferrell on screen ... acting goofy and clumsily mumbling his lines. His open mike night could easily have been an SNL skit. This movie would have been much better with a straight forward actor in this role. That said, I still have faith Ferrell will succeed as a dramatic actor. If Robin Williams could make the transition, surely Elf can.

If you might enjoy multi-layered story telling, a tremendous performance by Zooey and can look past Will Ferrell, this movie has a lot to offer.