IMDb > Winter Passing (2005)
Winter Passing
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Winter Passing (2005) More at IMDbPro »

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Winter Passing (2005) -- Open-ended Trailer from 20th Century Fox
Winter Passing (2005) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   3,959 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Adam Rapp (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Winter Passing on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 September 2006 (Poland) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Sometimes you go looking for something you want. . . and find what you need.
Plot:
Actress Reese Holden has been offered a small fortune by a book editor if she can secure for publication the love letters that her father... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
Inside the Box more (43 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Zooey Deschanel ... Reese Holden
Darrell Larson ... Director

John Bedford Lloyd ... Leontes
Deirdre O'Connell ... Deirdre

Mandy Siegfried ... Ruth

Amy Madigan ... Lori Lansky

Dallas Roberts ... Ray

Ivan Martin ... Bartender

Robert Beitzel ... Rob
Laurie Kennedy ... Nun

Will Ferrell ... Corbit

Ed Harris ... Don Holden
Mary Jo Deschanel ... Mary

Amelia Warner ... Shelly
Sam Bottoms ... Brian
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for language, some drug use and sexuality.
Runtime:
USA:98 min | Argentina:98 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The person posing as Reese's mother in the pictures on the wall is Zooey Deschanel's real-life mother, Mary Jo Deschanel. more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: In the scene in which Zooey is having missionary sex, the gaffer tape over her nipples can be seen. more
Quotes:
Reese Holden: I just can't believe this is the same man who told his six-year-old daughter that Christmas was a Republican capitalistic conspiracy created by the Hallmark Corporation and that, if Jesus were alive today he'd be down in Nicaragua rallying the Sandinistas. Grace Away. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Daily Show: (2006-02-16)" (2006) more
Soundtrack:
Bittersuite more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
24 out of 27 people found the following comment useful.
Inside the Box, 29 May 2006
8/10
Author: gradyharp from United States

Though the cover for the DVD of WINTER PASSING (a photo of the four main characters crowded into a box) may make many potential viewers pass over this little film, thinking that it must be silly slapstick, this is a fine film written and directed with finesse and style by Adam Rapp, a new face whose talents have been somewhat limited to working on episodes of the TV series 'The L Word'. Rapp gives notice of a fine writer and an equally fine director in this barely noticed little touching movie.

Reese Holdin (Zooey Deschanel) lives in New York, an actress relegated to small parts in off Broadway theater while spending her days as a bartender hooked on alcohol, drugs and casual sex. Her life seems dead-ended: she has become anesthetized by her manner of living. An agent (Amy Madigan) approaches her with an offer to pay her for the letters between her parents, both once famous authors. Her mother has just died, and Reese didn't attend her funeral, so distant does she feel is her relationship to her past. But the spark of money moves her to ride a bus back to her Michigan home to salvage the letters to sell for publication.

Arriving home she is greeted by the weird Corbit (Will Ferrell), a Christian electric guitar player and composer who ears black eyeliner etc, but does care for Reese's severely alcoholic father - the once famous writer Don Holdin (Ed Harris) who hasn't written a novel in years and lives in the garage of his home under the care of Corbit and an ex-student Shelley (Amelia Warner), a bright very young girl with demons of her own. Reese works at reconnecting with her father, struggles with her resentment for the 'caregivers', and ultimately finds the letters she came for, only to make discoveries about her dysfunctional family and her father's status that alters her view of his value as her parent.

The movie is rather stagy and most of the action is unspoken, and while that technique of telling this particular story seems exactly right to this viewer, there are some who will feel frustrated at the rather static pace of the film. Zooey Deschanel once again proves that she is one of our finest actresses on the screen and hopefully this role will bring her to the attention of casting agents and result in our seeing more of this gifted actress in the future. Ed Harris is superb as the wasted, quietly grieving has-been author, keeping his performance understated and in doing so creating a character that is indelible in our minds long after the movie is over. Amelia Warner is also a fine little actress and even galumphing Will Ferrell brings more than his usual tiring comedic talents to this touching role. In all this is a movie that deserves wide attention. There is more to quietly hear and understand about interpersonal relationships than we would expect from the cover! Grady Harp

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