Review of Winter Passing (2006) by Ryan J — 30 Mar 2008

This has got to be the first "sleeper" hit i"ve seen all year. Winter Passing is a touching, heartwarming, and sometimes distrubing portrait of modern americana.

Written and directed by Adam Rapp, this film stars Zooey Dashanel, who is even hotter than she was in Almost Famous. There is just something about black hair and blue eyes that gets me..

Winter Passing co-stars the brilliant, but difficult Ed Harris and in an unlikely role-- Will Ferrell.

In Ed Harrris' words: "this film is about heart, love, pain, and acceptance.".

From the begginning, I was drawn to and could sympathize with Ms. Dashanel's character - Reese. She was a theatre kid, dabbled in a bit of coke on the side and was a hip bartender. Then, like a freight train set on silient-mode, Rapp reveals her darkside, her pain and hurt -- it's touching. She's twenty-something, confused and lost. (like most of us).

Six months earlier, her mother, a famous writer, committed suicide. Reese, still trying to deal with the loss, is confronted by a publisher who is looking to print letters written between Reese's mother and father. Reese, a struggling acctress and hardup for the cash, sets off towards the home she left nearly 7 years ago.

She comes to find a strange, but harmless man(Ferrell), living in her family, a sort of twenty-something nurse-maid, and a washed up, drunken version of what used to be her father(harris), living in the garage. Through a series of brief, but meaningful encounters, she is able to bond with her new "family". Reese is learns to be in touch with her feelings and this particular charater arc, albeit sublte, is brilliant.

After a failed attempted suicide, her father is hospitolized. In a few short minutes Reese is able to re-connect with her dad they come to an incomplete, but satisfying understanding of one another. She returns to NewYork with a new outlook on life.

The film faded to black, the credits rolled, and in the TV screen I saw my reflection. I noticed a subtle smile appear on my face. It had alot of heart, and I liked it. Unlike some of the other "true-to-life" indi hits of late, this one was not a "hard-watch" at all... the only thing that fucked with me, was when she killed her kitten. But, the underlying social commentary and symbolism justified it. Watch it and you'll dig it. --ry.