Review of Winter Passing (2006) by Lucas Y — 20 Nov 2008

Pretty impressive debut for Adam Rapp and one of the better films of 2006.. kinda comparable to Little Miss Sunshine, only more depressing. Ed Harris is great as an iconic, yet mentally disoriented author who couldn't care less about living another day. He lives with Will Ferrel, also a puzzled individual whom Harris found sleeping on his couch in his basement one day and Amelia Warner, an former English student of his who's had a very troubled past, but seems to have her head on straight at the point the film is taking place. She takes care of Harris.

Zooey Deschanel plays the lead and delivers a very poignant performance as Harris' daughter who's been long gone out of the house (with no contact) and is an aspiring actress who's just as bewildered as the rest of the cast. She comes to back to her hometown in Michigan trying to retrieve some love letters her father wrote to his dead wife because she's promised $100,000 if she does.

Altogether this was very funny and enjoyable, yet it rips your heart out at moments. Harris and Deschanel provide almost of those scenes. Will Ferrel was miscasted in my opinion because he kept reminding me of dumb Will Ferrel (Semi Pro, Blades of Glory, Talledega Nights). He was alright though and he hardly destroyed the movie anyways. I felt Warner was kinda just thrown in there because they needed the character. She really only has one powerful scene in the film, which is with Deschanel in the attic. Winter Passing just flowed well as you kept gaining more information about the characters as the film progressed. A very interesting story and great character development really solidified Winter Passing. If you enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine, definitely check this out.