Synopsis
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Reviews (27)
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H
Even when you have to get past cringey elements to some characters, you can start to understand them more in low key dramas about normal things in normal lives. They are the best films and require the most inventive imagination to get it right
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S
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T
“It’s this strange thing where everything you build your life on, everything that you think you are…is just gone. It’s just gone.” I haven’t lost a spouse to an accidental death but I have to divorce, which some liken to a form of dying. It certainly can mean the same thing; one day the person is there, the next they’re gone, and you’re left to figure out what to do next. In this sort of proto-mumblecore, three men make their way through their daily lives after their wife and mother was killed in an auto accident. That’s pretty much it as far as plot goes. It’s a deeply felt and frankly honest portrayal of what life can be like after…
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N
Such an underuse of Allison Janney who was the soul reason I watched in the first place But decent plot
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R
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NNot James Bowman 8 月 24, 2026
The poet Roy Campbell was once famous for having written this little epigram titled “On Some South African Novelists.” You praise the firm restraint with which they write — I’m with you there, of course: They use the snaffle and the curb all right, But where’s the bloody horse? The lines came immediately to mind when I saw Josh Sternfeld’s Winter Solstice, an independent film which takes as its way of being anti-Hollywood a degree of emotional understatement so great as to make it doubtful if the movie even has a pulse. I yield to no one in my preference for the subtle and the understated over the bombastic and overblown which is far more often to be met with…
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C
It’s been five years since a wife and mother was killed in a car crash, but her surviving husband, Jim Winters (Anthony LaPaglia), can’t bridge the gap that has grown between him and his teenage sons. Pete (Mark Webber), who was with his mother when she died, is doing badly in school. Gabe (Aaron Stanford) talks of leaving town and pushes his sympathetic girlfriend away. But when Jim helps move new neighbor Molly (Allison Janney) into her home, the first possibilities of healing begin to stir. Sad and tragic. It deals quite honestly and maturely with loss.
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R
The safely MOR Winter Solstice sails as close to a mid-rating as you’re likely to find. The uneventful central conflict is basically eldest son decides to leave town for better work opportunities. There is just enough understated character investment to suggest authenticity, although this is undercut by the formulaic beats pervading throughout the drama. The fan favourite ensemble is cute across the board, all seemingly finished with their latest TV seasons and hunted out for that interim quick-shoot resume feature. The homely set looks well-worn, as if trying to fit in one last production before being scuttled. End of an era for that latter twentieth century Americana of the basketball hoop over the garage door.
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A
So Sundance-y (go figure, Sundance ponied up money for its production), but pretty well-performed. It’s a nice, little slice of life movie.
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E
allison janney dream lovergirl on her bicycle being the only thing that matters in this movie
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T
There are two types of films: -Film or Television that allow to bask in the charm of Allison Janney and -Film or Television that severely underuses her. This is the latter.
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B
played a really fun game called “ohhh i’ve seen them in something before” with nearly every actor in this while watching
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N
Their last name is Winters. This does not take place during the winter. Just FYI. Fun play on “solstice” though.
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S
Drama que vem com bons assuntos em mãos mas acaba desperdiçando toda a sessão por conta de fracas atuações e desenvolvimentos.Destaque positivo para Allison Janney.
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L
Slow wander through a family’s effort to cope, or not, with loss. I’ll always watch an Alison Janney movie, but it would have been nice for something, anything to happen in this film.
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Ssean d smith 8 月 10, 2021
hoopla
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T
“It’s this strange thing where everything you build your life on, everything that you think you are…is just gone. It’s just gone.” I haven’t lost a spouse to an accidental death but I have to divorce, which some liken to a form of dying. It certainly can mean the same thing; one day the person is there, the next they’re gone, and you’re left to figure out what to do next. In this sort of proto-mumblecore, three men make their…
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E
ill comfort Gf dont worry
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V
GREAT CAST,GREAT VIBE,IT LOOKS GOOD…UNFORTUNATELY IT JUST CRAWLS BY…ITS SO SLOW PACED…IT HAS ITS MOMENTS AND LIKE I SAID THE CAST IS TOP NOTCH…COULD HAVE USED A BIT MORE OOMPH THOUGH.
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D
A drama about a single father and his 2 teenage sons living in the suburbs, one of which is about to leave the nest for another state miles away. Meanwhile a new neighbour moves in next door, a woman the father’s age. Despite having a on paper strong cast with the likes of Anthony LaPlaglia, Mark Webber, Allison Janney and Michelle Monaghan the film is too lifeless and uneventful to sustain much interest.
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R
The safely MOR Winter Solstice sails as close to a mid-rating as you’re likely to find. The uneventful central conflict is basically eldest son decides to leave town for better work opportunities. There is just enough understated character investment to suggest authenticity, although this is undercut by the formulaic beats pervading throughout the drama. The fan favourite ensemble is cute across the board, all seemingly finished with their latest TV seasons and hunted out for that interim quick-shoot resume feature.…
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H
This melancholy drama tells the story about a father and his two sons dealing with the death of his wife and their mother. There is some interesting build up in this film but almost no pay-off. By the end, all that is left is a group of miserable people who do little to nothing in the hour-and-a-half running time. If, however, you’re looking to be sad and have no idea way, this is just the ticket
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R
Did not finish this one. Pretty standard examination of family grieving the loss of their mother/wife. But lacks energy and emotional focus.
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R
LaPaglia and Janney are reliably strong in this gentle, somewhat clichéd drama about moving on.
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S
Well done but far from special grieving family in recovery pic.
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B
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NNot James Bowman 4 月 8, 2005
The poet Roy Campbell was once famous for having written this little epigram titled “On Some South African Novelists.” You praise the firm restraint with which they write — I’m with you there, of course: They use the snaffle and the curb all right, But where’s the bloody horse? The lines came immediately to mind when I saw Josh Sternfeld’s Winter Solstice, an independent film which takes as its way of being anti-Hollywood a degree of emotional understatement so great…
4
- Synopsis
- A widower confronts his older son's decision to leave home and his younger son's self-destructive behavior.
- Director
- Josh Sternfeld
- Writer
- Josh Sternfeld
- Studio
- Sound Pictures, Paramount Classics
- Country
- USA
- Language
- English
- Year
- 2004
- Runtime
- 90 mins
- USA29 Jan 2004
- USA08 Apr 2005
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