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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sort of beautiful in its own dark and dysfunctional way, January 13, 2007
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.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"His editor thought his was trying to capture the voice of an illiterate,", May 24, 2006
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.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Zooey Deschanel..., May 17, 2006
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.
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