Customer Reviews

Winter Passing

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

You look at this film, especially the cover, and you think quirky comedy. Will Ferrell's in it, so you know it has to be a comedy. Well, it is quirky, but Winter Passing is not a comedy; it's actually a pretty bleak, depressing film. Seemingly by design, the film defies your attempts to get your mind around what is going on. Reese, the main character, is a complex, bitter young woman who seems about one disappointment away from killing herself. The kitten scene, which you may have heard of, was especially off-putting to me. I can see how it fits into the movie as a whole, and it's actually a pretty basic, simple scene, but this animal lover didn't see it coming, found it pretty heartbreaking, and struggled to put it behind me as the story progressed. Had I known about this one scene, I doubt I would ever have watched this movie. I'm not trying to turn anyone away from this movie when I say this, though, because this really is an excellent, compelling film.

Great characters make for great films, and Winter Passing has three, almost four, of them. None of them are exactly normal, though. The aforementioned Reese (Zooey Deschanel) is a down-and-almost-out actress/barmaid in New York going nowhere fast. Looking at her, you would never know she was the daughter of two prominent writers, neither of whom she has seen in years. She didn't even go home for her mother's funeral. Her father, Don Holden (Ed Harris), is something of a recluse who disappeared from the scene a while back. Reese really has no plans of ever going home to Michigan again - not until, that is, a literary agency offers her a hundred grand for the letters her parents exchanged early in their relationship. Reese doesn't exactly jump at the money, initially telling the literary agent to go jump. Later, though, as she further succumbs to her depression and thinks about how much cocaine and cigarettes a hundred grand would buy, she changes her mind and catches a bus bound for the Wolverine State.

Returning to the home of so many bad childhood memories, she is met at the door by a stranger, a pretty strange stranger in the form of Corbit (Will Ferrell), a quiet and somewhat childlike "rocker" who once played in a Christian rock band but now acts as a bodyguard of sorts for her dad. Shelly (Amelia Warner), a former student of her dad's, also lives there, sort of classing up the joint with her accent and doing the cooking and cleaning for Corbit and Reese's father, who has now taken up residence in the garage out back. The acclaimed writer (played brilliantly by Ed Harris) is really a broken man: long, unkempt hair, a glass of liquor perpetually in his hand, unwilling or unable to feed or take care of himself, and writing very little. This whole, bizarre living situation does nothing to improve Reese's outlook on life, which leads to conflict with her father and with Shelly. It's basically dysfunctionality squared, leading up to some real emotional fireworks after she discovers exactly how her mother died. Reese originally came to find the set of letters her mother left her, but she ends up staying several days and discovering a lot of more important things about her father and herself. Some emotional issues do get resolved between the main characters, but this isn't exactly the feel-good movie of the year. I would not advise anyone to watch this movie if they're already feeling depressed.

I personally think this is an excellent, albeit unconventional, film, and I'm a little surprised that it doesn't have a higher average rating. Obviously, the film is probably too dark and weird for some people, and others may just be mad because they expected it to be a comedy, but it's really quite a touching film in its own way, and it has a lot to say about life in general. Will Ferrell, I must say, really shows his acting chops in his out-of-character performance as Corbit, Zooey Deschanel seems to be seizing the troubled young woman reins once wielded by Wynona Rider, and Ed Harris is simply superb in his portrayal of the alcoholic, shambling, broken father. The atmosphere and flow of the film really fit the conditions and characters, the writer and director never sell out or overexploit the melodrama borne of the characters' relationships, and the ending doesn't overextend itself across the bounds of believability. Wild Passing is a difficult film to describe; you really have to experience it for yourself.

Winter Passing is a slow, contemplative and unhurried movie, and depending on your tastes, some viewers may find it rather flat and dull. Yes - this movie of one girl's journey to reconnect with her alcoholic father is often monotonous and sometimes tedious, but it's also well acted and carefully nuanced. Director/playwright Adam Rapp seems intent to incorporate a very minimalist script into the action, which in turn manages to convey a lot of feeling from saying very little.

Zooey Deschanel plays Reece, a self destructive, embittered and sullen young actress who spends her days working in short runs of off Broadway productions. She's numb and emotionally closed off, with most of her kicks coming from the occasional snort of coke and impulsive sex. Even slamming her hand in a drawer doesn't make her feel anything. When a predatory book agent (Amy Madigan) turns up offering Reece $100,000 for a collection of letters her mother bequeathed to her, Reece spurred into action.

Her father is the legendary reclusive author Don Holden (Ed Harris) is a washed-up, boozy author, who is not only lamenting the loss of his beloved wife, but hasn't finished a book in decades. He's also angry with Reece for missing her mother's funeral. In reality, Reese hasn't been home to Michigan in years, but lately New York has been getting to her - the final straw is when her beloved kitty is diagnosed with feline leukemia. So off she goes, back to Michigan to her dad, snorting coke along the way.

Reece is indeed surprised at what she finds. Don is so wracked with the disease of alcoholism that he can hardly get up in the morning, and the ramshackle house has now become a literal sea of books. Her father is relegated to the garage while two strangers stay in the house. Shelly (Amelia Warner), an attractive, young former grad student of Don's, who feeds and cares for Don and Corbit (Will Ferrell), a shy, gentle musician who wears thick black eyeliner and plays Christian rock.

Much of the drama of Winter Passing comes from the standoff that develops between Reece and these gatecrashers. She's initially appalled at her father's degeneration, and clearly resents the fact that a British young girl "from Wimbledon" is looking after him. Of course, her main reason for being there is to find the letters, but she ends up getting sidetracked; she's perceptive enough to see that Shelly and Corbit really add some thing to Don's embittered life. Eventually, animosity shades into a kind of muted reconciliation.

Winter Passing is a nicely acted movie with some truly sensitive moments, particularly between Reece and her father - at the end of the movie there's a hospital scene, which is particularly affecting. Rapp has a nice touch for characterizations and offhanded dialogue. Obviously the Holden family is terribly dysfunctional, but Rapp never overplays this, and rarely do any of the characters resort to unrestrained histrionics. You really get a definite sense of Reece's frustrations, particularly when she tries to score at the local bar.

The film's momentum stalls a bit in the last act because everything hangs on whether Reese will find the letters and what she'll do when she finds them. The final scenes are important, but Rapp doesn't really go for the emotional jugular. In the mean time, the characters clash with Shelley determined to stake out her territory, regardless of what Reece thinks of her.

Some of the performances are stronger than others - Farrell is yet again miscast as Corbit; you can't take him seriously, but Deschanel absolutely nails Reece and we come to sympathize with her, even though she's not particularly likable - she can be brutal to people and things she no longer has use for, yet she also eschews a mark of sensitivity - her eventual growth and liberation from her dysfunctional past is one of the highlights of the film. Mike Leonard May 06.

In a year rife with of litarary films (Capote, Squid & the Whale) it is sad this has been so overlooked. Straight to video with only scattered apearances at fests this film exacts comanding performances from all involved most notably Zooey Deschanel and Will Farell. Adam Rapp's assured direction captures the midwesterner lost in New York as good as I've seen. The dialoge is assured and real. What sort of world do we live in where this film can't get a release but Date Movie gets thousands of screens? I pray this film will find a life on video ala Donnie Darko. Find this movie and see it!

I actually first came across this movie by accident one night when searching for movies involving Michigan on my DVR. It came up in the search results as being set in Michigan, so I recorded it just for that reason. I never knew the movie would end up becoming one of the best movies I'd ever seen.

To my knowledge, the first time I had seen anything Zooey Deschenel did was in last year's Sci Fi movie The Tin Man. She was good in that, but her performance there can't hold a candle to her performance in Winter Passing. She plays a the daughter of two authors that grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula who sort of just "left" home to find her way in New York. After her mom dies, a few events end with her going back to Michigan to see her dad, played by Ed Harris. She's not so shocked to find her dad has become a self-absorbed alcoholic, seemingly giving up on life after the death of his wife.

The movie sort of plays out as a coming of age movie, but from many different (and sometimes odd) angles. Zooey's character seems to not really care about much of anything except the here and now, her dad seems to dwell on the past and emotions between the two are a mish mash of regret, despair, depression and sadness. There may be some love in there, but you have to really dig deep to find it.

Winter Passing is dark... the atmosphere is gloomy and until you get to the end, you won't find yourself laughing too much at anything that goes on. Except for Will Ferrell's character. While not in the film all that much, Ferrell plays a character living with Ed Harris who is at once shy, overly-religious and kind. His character is the one and only comic relief you'll find throughout most of the film, and he plays the part so well, it's s shame he isn't more well known for this part than some of his other roles. If you're reading this and thinking "Ah, I hatye Will Ferrell's brand of comedy", don't fret... this is a character I guarentee you've never seen him play before. He's... disturbed, to say the least.

I've seen some people on this forum talk about the cat scene. They are making it out like she just kills the cat for no reason, but she isn't. I won't give it away, but there's TWO different reason she did what she did to the cat. It apparently made an imapct on some cat-loving viewers, so the makers of the movie obviously accomplished what they set out to do.

Like I said, I recorded this movie, but it was so good I bought it. If the beginning of this movie where Zooey's character was in new York had been cut by 10 or so minutes, this would have been a perfect movie. As it is, it still is damn near perfect.

Though the cover for the DVD of WINTER PASSING (a photo of the four main characters crowded into a box) may make many potential viewers pass over this little film, thinking that it must be silly slapstick, this is a fine film written and directed with finesse and style by Adam Rapp, a new face whose talents have been somewhat limited to working on episodes of the TV series 'The L Word'. Rapp gives notice of a fine writer and an equally fine director in this barely noticed little touching movie.

Reese Holdin (Zooey Deschanel) lives in New York, an actress relegated to small parts in off Broadway theater while spending her days as a bartender hooked on alcohol, drugs and casual sex. Her life seems dead-ended: she has become anesthetized by her manner of living. An agent (Amy Madigan) approaches her with an offer to pay her for the letters between her parents, both once famous authors. Her mother has just died, and Reese didn't attend her funeral, so distant does she feel is her relationship to her past. But the spark of money moves her to ride a bus back to her Michigan home to salvage the letters to sell for publication.

Arriving home she is greeted by the weird Corbit (Will Ferrell), a Christian electric guitar player and composer who ears black eyeliner etc, but does care for Reese's severely alcoholic father - the once famous writer Don Holdin (Ed Harris) who hasn't written a novel in years and lives in the garage of his home under the care of Corbit and an ex-student Shelley (Amelia Warner), a bright very young girl with demons of her own. Reese works at reconnecting with her father, struggles with her resentment for the 'caregivers', and ultimately finds the letters she came for, only to make discoveries about her dysfunctional family and her father's status that alters her view of his value as her parent.

The movie is rather stagy and most of the action is unspoken, and while that technique of telling this particular story seems exactly right to this viewer, there are some who will feel frustrated at the rather static pace of the film. Zooey Deschanel once again proves that she is one of our finest actresses on the screen and hopefully this role will bring her to the attention of casting agents and result in our seeing more of this gifted actress in the future. Ed Harris is superb as the wasted, quietly grieving has-been author, keeping his performance understated and in doing so creating a character that is indelible in our minds long after the movie is over. Amelia Warner is also a fine little actress and even galumphing Will Ferrell brings more than his usual tiring comedic talents to this touching role. In all this is a movie that deserves wide attention. There is more to quietly hear and understand about interpersonal relationships than we would expect from the cover! Grady Harp, May 06

Zooey Deschanel finally nabs a starring role (the only other "starring" role I can think of was in "All the Real Girls") and proves further that not only is she capable of being funny (Elf, Failure to Launch, The Good Girl, & Eulogy) but she can also be a dramatic actress. It is in this film that she delivers probably her best performance...The movie "Winter Passing" is written and directed by Adam Rapp, who shows promise as he's able to show both the vulnerable and animalistic side of his characters. Deschanel plays Reese Holden, an aspiring actress/bartender who lives in New York City. Reese is lost and confused and looks to sex and drugs for comfort.
When a book editor offers her 100,000 dollars to retrieve letters, that were written by her father Don Holden (Ed Harris) and recently deceased mother, she reluctantly returns home. Her father is simalar to the Anthony Hopkin's character in the movie "Proof". He's brilliant and slightly off-center. When Reese arrives she discovers that her father is sleeping in the backyard and the garage, while his two roommates inhabit the house. His roommates are Shelly (Amelia Warner) a former student of Don's and Corbit (Deschanel's co-star from Elf, Will Ferrell), an aspiring musician. As Reese tries to stay in the house, while looking for the letters, she also forms bonds with her father as well as Corbit and Shelly. Now for an evaluation on the performances; Ed Harris is good, but is actually in the film for a pretty small amount of time.
Amelia Warner, who I'm pretty sure is new, is really good as Shelly. Zooey Deschanel, as I've already said delivers her best performance and I look forward to seeing her in some more dramatic films. Now, it's time for Will Ferrell who many people have said they can't imagine in a serious role. People get to ahead of themselves, however, because this isn't quite a serious role. It's a dramattic role, but it's played with an off-color goofiness. But, don't get me wrong...This is not a typical Will Ferrell role and he could easily transition from comedy to drama like Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Stever Martin, and Tom Hanks have. Anyway, this movie does have it's flaws...It's not perfect, but it is worth watching but just because Will Ferrell is in it. Don't assume it's funny.
GRADE: B+

Side-Note:
For Zooey Deschanel fans; Zooey Deschanel does not appear nude in this film. There is a sex scene, but the only thing visible is her face for the most part. This is the bravest she's gotten with the sexuality factor in a film yet, but it's still not full frontal.

This is a film about relationships.

Reece is offered a lucrative sum of money if she can get her hands on and then sell the letters which her now deceased mother wrote to her father when they were a young couple.


When she finally meets her father he is in a run down home with two graduate students Corbet and Deidre who seem to be loafters and bums just looking to use the old man for a roof over their heads..


Reece hates this arrangement and wants them out of her fathers' house; which just happens to be her house - although she doesn't know it as yet.


As she reads the letters she realises that what lies in them cannot ever be sold in fact what lies in them chronicles the lives of her parents and explains why this are as they are.

It's dark and disturbing, even excruciating to watch at times, but it's a form of twisted beauty you hardly see in modern films. 'Winter Passing' is probably the most underrated drama I've seen in years as it rides the coattails of truly sensational acting.

It's the story of a self-destructive actress and bartender living in New York City and on the path to nowhere. When presented with the opportunity to make a small fortune, Reese Holdin journeys back to her home state of Michigan in order to retrieve letters written by her parents, both well known authors. Upon arriving at her childhood home, Reese discovers it occupied by a former student of her father's named Shelley (Amelia Warner) and a Christian guitarist named Corbit (Will Ferrell). Her father, meanwhile, has since moved into the garage and taken to drinking in favor of writing. Mother having recently passed away and estranged from her father for years, Reese finds that before she can walk away with the source of a $100,000 payday, she has to fight the better judgment of her conscience... and finally face her corrupted past.

Zooey Deschanel & Will Farrell team up to play much more somber roles than that of their days in 'Elf', and Ed Harris portrays Don Holdin as if he was a close relative of J.D. Salinger (the author most assume this movie was loosely based on). It's a film that will have you singing the blues, but if you're in the right state of mind, you'll be able to appreciate its subtle honesty and painful journey to self-actualization.
It's real in the sense that a person's motivations are not always for the right reasons, but they can lead you right where you belong; real in the sense that at times it can be boring, but even the most seemingly insignificant moments in our lives can have purpose. It's a realistic display of a broken relationship between father and daughter. There's more pain than joy in the resurrected "bond" between Don and Reese Holdin, and though they both made mistakes, you can sympathize with both sides.

A lot of the less than favorable reviews on here talk about the scene with the cat. It didn't bother me any less than the next person, but I do believe it played well into Reese's bitter, detached personality. For positive or negative, that scene certainly did move people. Hopefully some can come to grips with how it fit into the storyline. I don't think the movie should be smitten for that one scene.

* It's worth mentioning that this is the least conventional role I've ever seen Will Ferrell in, and despite his somewhat shy and always neurotic personality as the religious musician, Corbit, he was the only thing close to comic relief in this film. I dare say that it might be the best performance of his career thus far behind only 'Old School' and 'Elf', which may one day be considered among the Y-Generation's classic comedies as it stands.

* Zooey Deschanel is my personal favorite actress (the reason I wanted to see the movie to begin with), and though I haven't seen everything she's been in, I've never seen her in such a rebellious, standoffish role as she was in this movie. Armed with doubts that she could play a convincing Reese, I was proven wrong time and time again. Farrell and Harris were remarkable, but Deschanel made this movie go. Her ability to show vulnerability while maintaining distance between her and the other characters was what made Reese both believable and real. Hats off to Zooey for her performance.

It's not an assault on the senses, nor a thinker of a movie. Take it for what it is. It's a story about four people that find themselves in spending time with each other. Dark, but beautiful.

Grade: A-

Winter passing is yet another answer from a filmmaker who wishes there could be a film of Catcher in the Rye. I think Sallinger, quite inadvertently, by not allowing his seminal work that generation after generation discovers, to become a film, has inspired far more great cinema that had he just allowed it to happen years ago. Winter Passing is one such film. Had Sallinger allowed Catcher in the Rye to become a film, this work of simple sentimental art wold never have been made. For that I am happy Sallinger has stuck to his guns.

Other films like The Royal Tenenbaums and Finding Forester are two other films that come to mind as great works that fall along the same lines.

Zooey Deschanel, who is my favorite beautiful face out there right now also delivers a great performance. She is a real actress, not just a pretty head. Even her name was probably inspired by Salinger's Franny and Zooey. She was perfect in this film. Will Ferrell also gives a great subdued performance. He is obviously trying to make that transition to drama just as Adam Sander has been attempting. This was a good step in the right direction.

The film is one of those that requires re-watching again and again. It's a pleasure.

This is my first movie review, and I chose this one because I believe it has recieved unfairly poor reviews, even by actual movie critics. It is a tremendous movie in general. Strangely engaging and moving, with some excellent performances with all those involved. Harris and Deschanel are spectacular and Will Ferrell's first (and only as far as i know) performance in a drama was superb. He plays his character to a tee. A lonely, subdued, quirky and somewhat strange and random guy. Still manages to be quite funny in some scenes ie) Talking about his Christian Rock Group, Punching Pilot. The movie has a very somber and somewhat depressing atmosphere to it. You feel for these characters, especially Deschanel and come to appreciate the fact that no family is normal and perfect. We all have our faults and have made mistakes, but love and appreciation for what we have manages to come through. A refreshing movie if you ask me, and one that needs to be seen and appreciated by more people