This is a story about a widower who is raising two older sons....and he's apparently not up to the challenge and the boys are essentially like boats set adrift. After the father (Anthony LaPaglia) meets a new neighbor (Allison Janney), things start to change a bit for the better.
"Winter Solstice" is a film that frustrated me. While it is a film about alienation, the director made some decisions to increase this sense of loneliness and isolation that ended up seriously damaging the movie. Part of this was achieved by having almost no soundtrack at all for the film. What little there was turned out to be a single guitar. It was supposed to sound lonely...it sounded more cheap. Part of the director's vision was also to have the actors say very, very little. As a result, sometimes what they did seemed strange and confusing (such as the beds on the lawn scene). The film also ends...with very little actually resolved. Overall, while a lot of reviewers liked the film, many others disliked it....and the absolute lack of energy is much of the reason folks dislike it....me included. Just a small amount of energy would have helped the story immensely...helped folks to care about these people. Instead, it just felt like it was trying too hard to be hip and indie...and you really never cared about the people and their predicaments. It's also a shame because LaPaglia and Janney are excellent actors....but you just couldn't tell here.
"Winter Solstice" is a film that frustrated me. While it is a film about alienation, the director made some decisions to increase this sense of loneliness and isolation that ended up seriously damaging the movie. Part of this was achieved by having almost no soundtrack at all for the film. What little there was turned out to be a single guitar. It was supposed to sound lonely...it sounded more cheap. Part of the director's vision was also to have the actors say very, very little. As a result, sometimes what they did seemed strange and confusing (such as the beds on the lawn scene). The film also ends...with very little actually resolved. Overall, while a lot of reviewers liked the film, many others disliked it....and the absolute lack of energy is much of the reason folks dislike it....me included. Just a small amount of energy would have helped the story immensely...helped folks to care about these people. Instead, it just felt like it was trying too hard to be hip and indie...and you really never cared about the people and their predicaments. It's also a shame because LaPaglia and Janney are excellent actors....but you just couldn't tell here.