WINTER SOLSTICE

by Joe Barber on May.07, 2005, under Joe Barber's Movie Reviews

MOVIE REVIEW: “WINTER SOLSTICE”

“Winter Solstice” is a movie that values silence as much as dialog. Often
in this subtle, quietly intense film, what charachters do not say to each
other is as important as the words they speak.
Written and directed by first time filmmaker Josh Sternfeld, the movie does
a fine job of examining the desolate territory of the broken dream, which
can also be the uncharted landscape of open possibility.

Set in a small town in upstate New Jersey, the film tells the story of Jim
Winters (Anthony LaPaglia of the “Without A Trace” television series) and
his two teenage sons, Gabe and Pete. Widdowed five years earlier when his
wife was killed in a car accident that also damaged Pete’s hearing, Jim has
focused all his attention on raising his boys and keepng his landscaping
business going. Gabe, the oldest son, has finished high school and taken a
job at a local factory rather than going to college or joining the family
business.

Pete, formerly a good student and promising athlete, has become indifferent
to his studies after his mother’s death and sleeps late, spending most of
his time playing basketball with his friends. Meanwhile, Gabe has become
restless with his job, his life and his longtime, younger girfriend, Stacey,

and is actively planning to leave town for a new start.

As spring drifts into summer, a ripple of change arrives when Molly (”The
West Wing”’s Allison Janney) arrives in town to housesit for friends. She
strikes up a friendship with Jim, who’s at first reluctant to get too cclose

to her. While his feelings begin to thaw, he finds his carefully managed
world coming apart, with Gabe announcing his plan to leave and Pete
struggling to deal with his latest assignment to summer school.

Sternfeld concentrates on closely examined moments in which not everything
is revealed in dialog. He allows his cast the room to explore the unspoken
tension and desperation in their character’s plights. He-and they-are not
afraid to allow silence to hold the moment, creating a kind of reality films

rarely trust audiences have the patience for. From the leads on down, the
actors do their work with skill and grace.

Running only 98 minutes, “Winter Solstice” has the rich and satisfying feel

of a well written short story. In its silences, it speaks volumes.

MPAA RATING:R for profanity.
JOE’S RATING: THREE STARS