Snow Wonder (2005) (TV)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Peter Werner

Writers (WGA):

Rodney Patrick Vaccaro (telescript)
Connie Willis (short story "Just Like the Ones We Used to Know")

Release Date:

20 November 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Plot:

A mysteriously spreading period of postcard winter conditions, complete with snow, over most of the...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Julie Ann Emery	...	Stacey
Jennifer Esposito	...	Pilar
Camryn Manheim	...	Bev
Poppy Montgomery	...	Paula
Jason Priestley	...	Warren
Josh Randall	...	Billy
David Sutcliffe	...	Jim
Eric Szmanda	...	Luke
Mary Tyler Moore	...	Aunt Lula
Michelle Krusiec	...	Joey
Vince Vieluf	...	Mario
Hunter Clary	...	Miguel
Aldis Hodge	...	Hotel Piano Player
Marco St. John	...	Judge Tilma
Ritchie Montgomery	...	Kirk

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Houmas House Plantation - 40136 Highway 942, Burnside, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Television

Pleasant holiday film, slightly naughty at times

Billy (Josh Randall) is not a meteorologist, but he reports on weather conditions for the cable channel 24/7 Weather. He says few Americans will see snow this Christmas. Then something amazing happens. He can't understand why clouds are forming so suddenly all over the country. Neither would someone with training. This is a Christmas miracle. Snow starts falling all over the country, and even the world. It snows for the first time ever in Key West. It snows in Italy, Morocco, Malaysia ... Hawaii??? Even Madagascar, where it is supposed to be summer. And with the biggest weather story in years, he loses his teleprompter. So he has to go see pretty Joey (Michelle Krusiec) who writes his material.

Stacey (Julie Ann Emery) is marrying Jim (David Sutcliffe) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Paula (Poppy Montgomery), is her maid of honor but wishes she could be the bride. The question is which man should she marry? One possibility is the cello player.

Pilar (Jennifer Esposito) lives in Los Angeles with her son, but her ex-husband in San Diego demands that she let the boy spend Christmas with him. He even visits a judge who is supposed to be enjoying a day off to make sure it will happen.

Bev (Camryn Manheim) is from suburban Chicago and she goes to a sugar plantation in the South where it is unlikely to snow. Flashbacks show her happy life with husband Howard.

Luke (Eric Szmanda) wants to be a writer and his family regards him as a failure, except for his weird Aunt Lula (Mary Tyler Moore), who has an interesting romantic history involving celebrities. While waiting on the others to arrive, Luke tries learning to cook and listens to the stories.

Marjean (Caroline McKinley) is missing her husband Warren (Jason Priestley) for the second Christmas in a row. Though he claims to be stuck at the airport in Cincinnati, he is really with his girlfriend in Baltimore.

This miraculous weather event inconveniences the various characters but ends up improving the lives of many of them, while making others (who deserved it) miserable.

I only saw two really outstanding performances among the leading actors. I've never seen Mary Tyler Moore so quirky and ditzy. Eric Szmanda was okay alongside her. A movie about just them and the family might have been quite enjoyable.

And Camryn Manheim showed real anguish and bitterness. While the movie could have been a quality production with only her storyline, it would have been quite depressing. I should single out the three other actors that joined her: they played the driver who brought her to the plantation, the priest at the nearby church she stopped in just because it was pretty (though she didn't seem religious), and the bartender who played the piano.

The other performances and story lines were okay, though the parts with Warren, Marjean and bimbo seemed out of place and not well-acted at all, while still funny. And this story provided most of the bawdy humor that kept this from being a G-rated fantasy. Aunt Lula supplied the rest.

It was, for the most part, a corny fantasy of the type we see so much of at Christmas. I enjoyed it.