Winter Passing

Last updated

Winter Passing
Winter passing.jpg
Promotional movie poster
Directed by Adam Rapp
Written byAdam Rapp
Produced byDavid Koplan
P. Jennifer Dana
Starring Ed Harris
Zooey Deschanel
Will Ferrell
Amelia Warner
Amy Madigan
Dallas Roberts
Cinematography Terry Stacey
Edited byMeg Reticker
Music byJohn Kimbrough
The Eagles
Azure Ray
Distributed by Yari Film Group
Release dates
September 10, 2005 (TIFF)
February 17, 2006 (United States) [1]
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million [2]

Winter Passing is a 2005 American comedy-drama film directed by playwright Adam Rapp and starring Ed Harris, Zooey Deschanel, Will Ferrell, Amelia Warner, Amy Madigan, and Dallas Roberts. Rapp's directorial debut, the film premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival to mixed reviews and received a limited theatrical release in February 2006. The film was not released in the United Kingdom until 2013, when it was released under the new title Happy Endings. [3]

Contents

Plot

Reese Holdin is a depressed bartender and actress living in New York City. She regularly engages in casual sex, cocaine use and self-harm. Reese, who happens to be the daughter of a famous author named Don Holdin, is approached by a publishing agent who offers her $100,000 for a series of old letters written between her reclusive father and her late mother. When Reese learns that the kitten she rescued from the streets is dying of feline leukemia, she drowns it and buys a bus ticket to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to retrieve the letters.

Returning to her childhood home, she finds it occupied by Corbit, a down-and-out Christian musician, and Shelly, a 23-year-old former student of Don's. Reese's father now lives, writes and drinks in his garage. Reese initially clashes with the doting Shelly (whom she accuses of sleeping with her father) but eventually accepts her after learning of the death of her parents and of Don's support of her during a near-fatal illness endometriosis. She also bonds with the idiosyncratic Corbit, who spurns her sexual advances and has trouble playing guitar and singing at the same time. She feels out of place at home and fights with her father over childhood neglect, stating that her parents gave their typewriters more attention. She eventually finds the box of letters and, reading the emotional communiques, learns to empathize with her estranged parents. Shelly has also read the letters and asks Reese if she intends to publish them. Reese expresses ambiguity over the matter.

Don is still grieving over his wife's death. He keeps the tie she hanged herself with in a dresser in the backyard along with the rest of their bedroom suite, including their bed. He sometimes sleeps in the bed despite the bitter cold of winter. Reese starts to connect with Corbit and Shelly and is honest with her father about her reasons for staying away from the funeral. Soon after, Don overdoses on sleeping pills and Reese finds him unconscious. He recovers in the hospital, where Reese sits by his bed and reads his latest manuscript, Golf, which he had Corbit bury in the yard. The experience helps the father and daughter find closure, and Reese buries the box of letters in place of the novel before returning to New York.

Cast

Production

According to playwright Adam Rapp, the film originated as an idea for a two-act play. Said Rapp, "I'm a big fan of J.D. Salinger, and I know someone who knows Salinger's son. Matt [Salinger] went to his father's house for Thanksgiving about six years ago. His father opened boxes of manuscripts he'd been working on for 50 years. He asked his son to burn them after he died. What bitterness. I thought, that'd be an interesting character. How do you relate to a character with a splintered mind who's started to slip into madness? What about the children of the artist? That was the germ of the idea." [4]

Though the film is mostly set in Michigan, it was primarily filmed in New Jersey. [2]

Reception

Some film critics have voiced theories that one or more of the film's characters are based on famous writers or poets. New York Times film and music critic Stephen Holden suggested J.D. Salinger, Sylvia Plath, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Ted Hughes and Ernest Hemingway as possible inspirations for Reese's parents. [5] Film critic Roger Ebert suggested Frederick Exley as the most likely basis for Don's character. [6]

Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, lauding it for balancing sadness, loneliness, humor and affection. He stated: "This is the kind of movie routinely dismissed as too slow and quiet by those who don't know it is more exciting to listen than to hear." [6] Robert Koehler of Variety gave a negative review but wrote positively of Will Ferrell, saying though his presence may not appear to fit with the film's serious themes, "he wisely eschews his familiar shtick for a register he hasn’t displayed before, playing a guy who’s set aside his dreams to take care of another person." [7] Ty Burr of The Boston Globe wrote that the movie feels like "two indie movies trapped in one film", but commended Zooey Deschanel. Burr wrote, "Reese is not a particularly likable woman-child, and she can be brutal to people and things she no longer has use for (that includes herself), but Rapp has written into her a spark of tenderness that's on the verge of going out forever." [8]

Winter Passing is the only film to date known to speak of Traverse City, Michigan. It was included in the 2006 Traverse City Film Festival for this reason, winning an award for "Best Use of the Words Traverse City in a Feature Film." [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Elf</i> (film) 2003 American Christmas comedy film

Elf is a 2003 American Christmas comedy film directed by Jon Favreau and written by David Berenbaum. It stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a human raised by Santa's elves, who learns about his origins and heads to New York City to meet his biological father. James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Asner and Bob Newhart appear in supporting roles.

<i>Franny and Zooey</i> 1961 novel by J. D. Salinger

Franny and Zooey is a book by American author J. D. Salinger which comprises his short story "Franny" and novella Zooey. The two works were published together as a book in 1961, having originally appeared in The New Yorker in 1955 and 1957 respectively. The book focuses on siblings Franny and Zooey, the two youngest members of the Glass family, which was a frequent focus of Salinger's writings.

<i>Freeway</i> (1996 film) 1996 film by Matthew Bright

Freeway is a 1996 American black comedy crime film written and directed by Matthew Bright and produced by Oliver Stone. It stars Kiefer Sutherland, Reese Witherspoon and Brooke Shields. The film's plot is a dark take on the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zooey Deschanel</span> American actress and musician (born 1980)

Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress and musician. She made her film debut in Mumford (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film Almost Famous (2000). Deschanel is known for her deadpan roles in comedy films such as The Good Girl (2002), The New Guy (2002), Elf (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Failure to Launch (2006), Yes Man (2008), The Happening (2008), 500 Days of Summer (2009) and Our Idiot Brother (2011). She has also ventured into dramatic film territory with Manic (2001), All the Real Girls (2003), Winter Passing (2005), Bridge to Terabithia (2007) and The Driftless Area (2015). From 2011 to 2018, she starred as Jess Day on the Fox sitcom New Girl, for which she received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.

<i>All the Real Girls</i> 2003 film by David Gordon Green

All the Real Girls is a 2003 American romantic drama film written and directed by David Gordon Green, and starring Paul Schneider, Zooey Deschanel, Shea Whigham and Patricia Clarkson. It is about the romance between a young, small-town womanizer and his best friend's sexually inexperienced younger sister. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2003. It was well-received by critics and was nominated for several film festival awards, with Green winning a Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Deschanel</span> American actress (born 1976)

Emily Erin Deschanel is an American actress. She played Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan in the Fox crime procedural series Bones (2005–2017).

Adam Rapp is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play Red Light Winter was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006.

Mary Jo Deschanel is an American actress. She appeared in the film The Right Stuff (1983) and the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">She & Him</span> American musical duo

She & Him is an American musical duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. It was formed in 2006 in Portland, Oregon. Their first album, Volume One, was released on the independent label Merge Records on March 18, 2008. They are commonly associated with the twee, indie-folk resurgence of the mid-2000s, which music critic and professor Eric Harvey described in Stereogum as "childlike, whimsical, earnest, acoustic Starbucks-friendly music like Feist, the Decemberists, Regina Spektor, and Jose Gonzalez."

<i>500 Days of Summer</i> 2009 film directed by Marc Webb

(500) Days of Summer is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and produced by Mark Waters. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel and employs a nonlinear narrative structure, with the story based upon its male protagonist and his memories of a failed relationship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. D. Salinger</span> American writer (1919–2010)

Jerome David Salinger was an American author best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger published several short stories in Story magazine in 1940, before serving in World War II. In 1948, his critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" appeared in The New Yorker, which published much of his later work.

<i>Yes Man</i> (film) 2008 romantic comedy film by Peyton Reed

Yes Man is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Peyton Reed, written by Nicholas Stoller, Jarrad Paul, and Andrew Mogel and starring Jim Carrey and co-starring Zooey Deschanel. The film is based loosely on the 2005 memoir of the same name by humorist Danny Wallace, who also makes a cameo appearance in the film.

Funny or Die Presents is a half-hour sketch comedy show that spawned from the comedy website Funny or Die, created by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. It premiered on HBO on February 19, 2010.

<i>Our Idiot Brother</i> 2011 film by Jesse Peretz

Our Idiot Brother is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Jesse Peretz and starring Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer. The script was written by Evgenia Peretz and David Schisgall based on Jesse and Evgenia Peretz's story, and tells the story of a dimwitted but idealistic and well-meaning man who intrudes and wreaks havoc in his three sisters' lives.

<i>The Driftless Area</i> 2015 film

The Driftless Area is a 2015 Canadian-American neo-noir dramedy film directed by Zachary Sluser and starring Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, and John Hawkes. Alia Shawkat, Aubrey Plaza, Frank Langella, and Ciarán Hinds also appear in supporting roles. The film is based on the 2006 novel of the same title by Tom Drury, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sluser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Day (New Girl)</span> Fictional character

Jessica Christopher "Jess" Day is a fictional title character in the FOX sitcom New Girl, where she becomes the sole female roommate in an apartment loft in Los Angeles. She is portrayed by Zooey Deschanel.

<i>Daddys Home 2</i> 2017 American comedy film

Daddy's Home 2 is a 2017 American Christmas buddy comedy film directed by Sean Anders and written by Anders and John Morris. A sequel to Daddy's Home (2015), it stars Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, John Cena, with John Lithgow and Mel Gibson. The plot follows now-reformed fathers Brad and Dusty, now co-parenting Dusty's kids, who have to deal with their own fathers visiting for the holidays.

"Not the End of the World" is a song by American singer Katy Perry from her sixth studio album Smile (2020). It was released on December 21, 2020, by Capitol Records as the third single from the album. It was written by the singer, Michael Pollack, Madison Love, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, and Andrew Goldstein, and was produced by Goldstein and Oscar Görres. Built off the interpolation of a melody from Steam's 1969 song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", it is a techno-pop and trap-pop track with an underlying disco and techno beat. A self-empowerment cut, with the lyrics about positivity and Perry's indifference to her critics. Compared to her 2013 single "Dark Horse", the song left music commentary divided. Some of them depreciated the single's message in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

<i>Winnie the Pooh</i> (2011 soundtrack) 2011 soundtrack album by Various artists

Winnie the Pooh is the soundtrack album to the 2011 film of the same name, based on the eponymous novel created by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, and directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall, the latter in his feature directorial debut. Henry Jackman composed the film score with additional music by Christopher Willis. The original songs were written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on July 12, 2011.

References

  1. ↑ "Adam Rapp Film "Winter Passing" To Be Released Feb. 17". Playbill . November 24, 2005. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "For Michigan, it's lights, camera ... open the treasury as 42-percent refundable tax credit for movie industry starts to happen in Michigan, says Flint Journal columnist Peter Luke". mLive . July 6, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  3. ↑ Cummings, Chris (October 8, 2013). "'Happy Endings' Review". nerdly.co.uk. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  4. ↑ Hayes, John (March 29, 2006). "'Winter Passing': Playwright Adam Rapp brings sibling rivalry to his first film". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  5. ↑ Holden, Stephen (February 17, 2006). "A Father-Child Reunion Fraught With Unhappiness". The New York Times . New York City. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Ebert, Roger (March 9, 2006). "A dark season". The Chicago Sun-Times . Sun-Times Media Group . Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  7. ↑ Koehler, Robert (September 17, 2005). "Winter Passing". Variety . Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  8. ↑ Burr, Ty (March 10, 2006). "A lost soul looking to turn the page". The Boston Globe . Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  9. ↑ Traverse City Film Festival, Official Site
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.