Winter Passing (2005)

An editor offers Reese (actress/bartender) $100,000 for her recently dead mom's letters from her novelist dad. She heads home from NYC to get them. Her dad lives in the garage while two strangers live in the house.

Director:

Adam Rapp

Writer:

Adam Rapp

Stars:

Ed Harris, Zooey Deschanel, Will Ferrell

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

Storyline

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, a reclusive novelist, wrote to her mother, who has since passed away. Returning to Michigan, Reese finds that an ex-grad student and a would-be musician have moved in with her father, who cares more about his new friends than he does about his own health and well-being.

---

Plot Keywords:

sorrow | sadness | death | mercy killing | novelist | 

---

Taglines:

Sometimes you go looking for something you want. . . and find what you need.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some drug use and sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song that Corbit (Will Ferrell) sings at the open mike night is "I Can't Tell You Why" by The Eagles.

---

Goofs

In the movie, their car has a front license plate. Cars don't have front license plates in Michigan.

---

Quotes

Reese Holdin: For some reason I imagine you as an only child growing up in some vast, impenetrable mansion with turrets, Daddy modeling perpetual tennis wear, Mum playing badminton and having biscuits and tea on the front lawn. Why don't you go back to Narnia or wherever the fuck you're from and leave my dad alone?

---

Connections

Referenced in The Daily Show: Ed Harris (2006)

---

Soundtracks

De-Da Dementia
(2003)
Written by Bill Taylor, Ryan Richardson, Clarque Johnson,
Kenneth Stephenson and Paul Finn
Performed by Kingsbury Manx
Courtesy of Overcoat Recordings

User Reviews

Well defined characters make you end up wanting more depth in the end

Winter Passing introduces a few great characters inside of an interesting family reconciliation plot, but fails to deliver with the results. Deschanel does a great job anchoring the film's emotional context as the very multidimensional, seemingly jaded Reese and the always dependable Ed Harris does more with one eye then many actors can emote during an impassioned speech. Will Ferrell however, despite being the go-to comedic relief in a very somber film, simply cannot disappear outside of himself enough as an actor to ever truly play a character other then his endless Saturday night live variations, and to me his awareness almost condescends the film's emotional impact. Nevertheless, the film will have you engaged in the offbeat family situation we are thrust into, only to have it become tied up way too neatly and quickly at the end. This lack of a thought out finale will make the emotional attachments made throughout the film with the main characters not as hard hitting as the movie perhaps intended, but still delivers a pretty solid, if a little unfulfilled, drama.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 June 2006 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Au fil de l'hiver

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,091, 19 February 2006

Gross USA:

$107,492

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$113,783

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stratus Film Co., Mint Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1