If you read this column with any sort of regularity, you have discovered that I have not quite made it to the theatre lately to watch any of the numerous features you can pay around $8 to watch. However, I do frequent my neighborhood Blockbuster and managed to pick up “Winter Passing.”
This fine film is written and directed by Anthony Rapp who spins the tale of Reese Holdin (Zooey Deschanel), a discontented off-Broadway actress who tries in vain to utilize casual sex, drugs and alcohol to introduce feeling into an otherwise numb body.
One evening Reece is introduced to a book editor who is willing to pay for the love letters that her reclusive father, Don Holdin (Ed Harris), and recently deceased mother, both authors, exchanged during their courtship.
After this proposal Reece finds herself on a bus to Michigan where she discovers that her father has completely turned the house upside down. Holdin has recruited two new roommates, Coltin (Will Ferrell), a fledgling Christian rock musician, and Shelly (Amelia Warner), one of Holdin’s former students, to help take care of a household in shambles as well Holdin’s own deteriorating mental stability.
Reece faces several, in her opinion, annoyances and confronts her past to realize that she has a future with her father if she can let go of the disdain that she has held towards her parents for the majority of her life.
Now, I would not want you to think this film was only about self-discovery and depressing family issues. While those themes are evident there is a great deal of humor and humanity in this movie.
Ferrell is quite hilarious without engaging in physical comedy or sarcastic one-liners. The character of Corbit is at times like a 5-year-old who wants to be taken seriously but his naivet and straightforward attitude cannot help but make you laugh.
Some of the best lines in the film were Corbit being completely earnest while discussing why he had to leave his former band because they were trying to go ska, or upon finding Reece digging for her last bit of coke and promptly announcing that, “crack cocaine will fry your brain.”
While both the characters of Reece and Don, the tortured artists, are commonplace in cinema, Deschanel and Harris respectively bring justice to their characters. Harris’ works with his battered physical appearance to parallel across the dilapidation of his life and his actual house.
Deschanel encompasses so much emotion while acting as if her character is completely devoid of it. Reece appears as a hollow shell all the while practicing greed and hate towards others. However, her daily attempts to rid herself of emotion, by drinking and even physically hurting herself do not cancel out her human instinct to feel. It is not until she finds something positive, even in the smallest form, that she drops her bad habits and stops hurting herself.
Though some aspects of this film were trite, I found the film to be very favorable.
A smart script, good primary and secondary characters, good use of cinematography to highlight a mood and of course, proficient actors made the film very enjoyable. If you feel like saving yourself a couple of dollars, go rent this movie.
Sometimes the movies you appreciate the most are the ones that you pass by walking down the aisle for some regurgitated action film.

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