Product Description

WINTER SOLSTICE tells the tale of small steps taken in the aftermath of family loss. Landscape gardener Jim Winters (LaPaglia) is a quiet craftsman, a soft-spoken man who prefers an orderly life. His family, however, is anything but orderly. Older son Gabe (Stanford) is planning his escape to Florida, leaving behind any shot at a stable future with his girlfriend. Younger son Pete (Webber) has retreated into a private world of anger, drift and disappointment. It is only when he meets his new neighbor, Molly (Janney), that Jim finds a way to deal with his own life and his family’s future.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58079 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2005-09-13
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com
Title aside, Winter Solstice is set in the spring and summer of a small, pretty, and dull Northeastern town. Anthony LaPaglia eases comfortably into the role of a widower anxious about his two teenage boys growing up and slipping away from him in Josh Sternfeld's low-key drama. While the eldest (Aaron Stanford) yearns for something more, or at least something different, his younger brother (Mark Webber) is the poster child for underachievers: Unfocused and distracted, wound up yet unmotivated. Sternfeld creates a lovely texture of naturalism and the boys create a convincing brotherly vibe in shared glances and private jokes, but the lulling rhythms take over the film, even when Allison Janney arrives with her low-key nervous energy. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Would-Be Great Movie Chickens Out on Us
This movied was batting a thousand, and I would have given it an easy 5 stars, when, all of a sudden...it stops. It quits. It poops out on you. They build up this wonderfully realistic, poignant story of a father presiding over his family's meltdown after the death of his wife, and this sweet, realistic-looking, realistic-acting lady moves in down the street, and she's escaping from her troubles, and her and the Dad befriend each other, and are they ever going to fall in love? Are they ever going to do anything, go anywhere, accomplish anything? Is this woman going to help solidify the father, help him reign in his kids who are jumping ship and not looking back?
We don't get to find out, because this film leaves you hanging. What a tease. I wish they had warned you on the outside: WARNING--MISSING THE LAST CRUCIAL 30 MINUTES!

Great Performances Bring A Deceptively Simple Family Drama To Life
When Anthony LaPaglia first broke onto the scene, the inevitable comparisons began. Almost immediately his look and intensity was correlated with a young DeNiro. And while that assessment is apt, he has chosen an alternate career path. While DeNiro's acting has become a lot broader (tending lately to caricatures of his former persona), LaPaglia has become a lot more introspective. "Winter Solstice" is a small movie that LaPaglia helped produce, an incisive look at a family in the aftermath of the mother's death.

Set five years after the incident, LaPaglia is a widower with one grown son and one son still in high school. The three of them have formed a matter-of-fact living arrangement. Going about daily routines, there is little real communication or joy within the family. They just exist. The older son, played by Aaron Stanford, longs to live a life for himself away from the obligations that have held him stagnant. The younger son, Mark Webber, is aimless--a smart kid who doesn't bother to apply himself to school or much of anything. The family dynamic is very observant and true. The brothers, in particular, have an extremely realistic relationship. When Stanford wants to move away, there is a subtle shift in the family--and without a lot of high drama, the threesome starts to accept that it is OK to move on.

"Winter Solstice" isn't a movie about plot. In truth, it's a slight (but emotionally resonant) story. Stanford, after announcing himself with "Tadpole" and surviving the "X Men" franchise and "The Hills Have Eyes," proves himself a capable dramatic actor. Webber is also startlingly good. The detailed performances are what set this film apart--while the sons are not always likable, they are inherently believable. Add LaPaglia's lived-in pathos and Alison Janney as a new life-force, and you've got one stellar quartet.

Small and quiet, "Winter Solstice" still touched me. Deceptively simple, it's a rare film that just feels true. Recommended for those that favor character studies, it might be a little too slight for those looking for blockbuster entertainment. KGHarris, 12/06.

Disappointment
Rosamunde Pilcher wrote a wonderful story called WINTER SOLSTICE. This bleak film bears no resemblance to her story and should not be advetised as such. I was vastly disappointed!!!