Rodrigo Amaro In "Winter Solstice" the Winter family doesn't know how to deal with the loss of the only woman in the house: the wife and mother of two brothers. Anthony LaPaglia is Jim, a widower dealing with some constant changes of his two teenage sons (played by Aaron Stanford and Mark Webber). One of them wants to move to another town because he thinks his life in going nowhere and he wants to find a sense of direction in the world, even if that means leave his girlfriend (Michelle Monaghan) behind. The other one is a self-destructive character whose prior objective is none, attending classes in the high school but not doing much, getting negative grades. In a place where nothing changes, nothing is answered and some situations are infatuating a glow of kindness appears in the form of Molly (Allison Janney) a new neighbor taking care of a house around the Winter family and we as audience are desperately hoping that she and Jim be involved soon. In one of the most awkward and funny moments of the film Jim throws the mattress and pillows of the brothers in the garden forcing them to sleep outside of the house just because they didn't attend in Molly's house for a dinner. He did that by angry, he didn't want to be alone with another woman, after 5 years without knowing another one except his deceased wife.This is another example of the so-called Independent Film book of rules (if there is one actually). Pick some good actors; deliver to them the shortest lines possible to talk on screen; make sure that the soundtrack of your film is an morose acoustic guitar; go film in a small town; and throw lots and lots of slow pace moments without answers, thousands of questions and no ending; and then you got a movie. Good one? Unfortunately no. I've seen a lot of similar films lately and they can only do one thing: make me bored!Despite the efforts of the ensemble casting this movie doesn't inspired me in anything, and it only showed that real life is boring, pointless, with some aggressive moments and no reason at all. In some points the movie worked brilliantly in showing the lack of communication between people, in other moments it was just deplorable, e.g. the moment where Molly wants to return something she borrowed from Jim and the son played by Mark Webber keeps looking strangely at her, not asking questions at her; she's very polite and he and his friend are too much in the defensive. Normal teenagers behave like that? Well, maybe. But that moment was too forced. The atmosphere of boredom is present in all moments except when Allison Janney is in scene but sadly her character doesn't appear too much. And the excessive focus on the teenage characters rather than the adults makes this film a little bit pointless and diminished considering that the pain that LaPaglia's character suffered is more important to the story than the teens grieve. The Winters family doesn't deal with the loss in family. There's no dealing with neighbors and teachers and the girlfriend. I mean that's what happens in real life. People just don't talk and everything is invisible to the eyes of those around who suffer of something. In movies just like literature characters can't use "masks", they need to show his reality to the audience, explain just a little why this is happening to them and why they act of that particular way. Everything was a mystery in Josh Sternfeld's film, nothing moves, people fight but they don't share their love, hopes and fears with no one even with its audience. And that's a problem in terms of screenplay. "Ordinary People" might be more melodramatic and more depressive than this film but at least it goes to somewhere, and we got some answers, and a possible solution. If you're looking for some answers to your life after experiencing something similar it's gonna be just like the Nazi soup in "Seinfeld": "No Soup For You!" 5/10

jotix100 A family tragedy changed the lives of the Winters family. When we meet them, Jim, a landscape gardener, and his two children, Gabe and Pete, have not gotten over the death of the woman who held this family together. At this juncture of their lives, they appear resigned with what happened to them. The somewhat quiet family atmosphere is going to be suddenly changed.Jim, the father, who has not seen another woman since his wife's death, is suddenly awakened from his lethargy with the arrival of a well meaning woman who is house sitting for friends in the neighborhood. Molly is a fine listener; she hears what Jim has to tell her, as he opens to recount the anguish, he and his children, have been living.Gabe, the older son, is seeing Stacey, a lovely young woman who loves him in return. It comes as a shock when Gabe informs his father and brother he is moving to Tampa. Jim's immediate reaction is to ask "What about Stacey", to which he responds "I'm dealing with it". Gabe wants to leave the oppressive home atmosphere to re-start his life in a new area. His brother Peter, who was with his mother when the accident happened, can't express his feelings; he has kept his emotions bottled inside him. He is a bright young man, but does poorly in school, something one of his teachers, tries to get him to respond and participate in class.Josh Sternfeld created a sensitive and beautifully restrained film that shows that not all in life is rosy and that people suffer when tragedy strikes. The director, who also wrote the screen play, knows this family well. Not everything is gloom and doom because we realize, as we watch, things will improve, especially for Jim, who is attracted by a woman who clearly understands his situation.Anthony LaPaglia, who is also credited as one of the producers, shows he was the right actor to portray Jim Winters. This talented man doesn't make a false movement and stays true to his character all the time. Mr. LaPaglia, who worked with Allison Janney on Broadway in Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge", is again reunited with his co-star and they feel right for one another. Ms. Janney's Molly, although not a showy role, gives her an opportunity to shine.Aaron Stanford is seen as the older son, Gabe, and Mark Webber is Peter. Both actors do a credible job under the sure direction of Mr. Sternfeld. Ron Livingston is the kind teacher who sees possibilities in Peter and Michele Monaghan is perfect as Stacey, the girl that is dumped without much logic, by Gabe."Winter Solstice" was beautifully photographed by Harlan Bosmajian, who captures the world of suburbia in all its glory. The atmospheric music is by John Leventhal. Josh Sternfeld created an intimate portrait about pain and anguish, as this family

madjc7 What happens when a spouse dies? There are no tender flashbacks in this film showing the husband and wife in their marital bliss before the wife dies. This film is about what happens afterward. Even five years later, the reverberations are being felt by the husband and his two young adult sons.Keep your expectations realistic, and this film delivers. In a key scene, a high school history teacher asks the class, "Why did the Mongols turn back when they were poised to roll up Europe like a carpet?" Pete, the younger son, seems to know, but doesn't care to answer. The teacher offers to let him out of class (a makeup summer class) if he can answer.Pete finally takes the bait: "Their leader died and they didn't know what to do." There you have it. Does the filmmaker do any more to explain what troubles this family? Yes, but you have to put the pieces together yourself. He doesn't make it hard; he just doesn't grind it up and put it in a baby food jar.The film builds to some very touching scenes that explore the impact of loss on the three remaining family members. If you're interested in exploring how real people deal with the real issue of loss, you'll find something here.The ending comes before you want it to, sure. There are no easy answers offered by the conclusion, but that's the way life is.

lee-foote By making a spectacle of dwelling on the mundane this movie confirms the obvious. Clearly many people find this very pleasant and reassuring that they are not alone in their communication problems, being victims of fate, and having the beneficence and underlying virtue to rise above the expected bitterness. There were a lot of pleasant emotional "ah so" moments but the pregnant pauses and awkward silences got old. As if there is an unspoken elephant in the room, nobody is commenting on the ending. Without spoiling anything, I will say the rasher of unresolved story lines left dangling seems a gratuitous attempt at artistic direction, and a cheap one at that. It irritated me that so much time was spent on character development that went nowhere. It is with some vindictiveness that I add these last to sarcastic questions: Is Sternfeld considering a sequel? Did he run out of money mid-way through the production? Great guitar work on the spare and crisp sound track. Soundtrack trivia - I can't think of any place in North America that one can hear Canada Geese on a lake and also have a profusion of Azaleas in bloom simultaneously. Maybe Missouri near a zoo or botanical garden?