MovieChat Forums > Winter Solstice (2005) Discussion > This is a sweet film

This is a sweet film

posted 19 years ago by JBene1
6 replies | jump to latest

Winter Solstice is a sweet film about a father and his sons as they try to move on with their lives as best they can after their wife/mother dies. Anthony LaPaglia plays the father who is trying the best he can to guide his two sons. His oldest son, Aaron Stanford, decides to leave home unexpectedly, and his younger son has begun to follow a path of self destruction. When the new neighbor moves in, who is played by Allison Janney, the family's life begins to change. This is a nice film that follows the trials and tribulations of a family trying to deal with the loss of a family member and how they try to become happy again. I enjoyed the characters, especially LaPaglia's role in the film. Watching him finally spark an interest in another woman, really made me happy for him. I really felt for his character, as he does the best he can, as a single father, to help his two troubled sons. The ending was a little abrupt, but it still closes with a message that anyone with a family can appreciate.

[–] rawkus1167 19 years ago

I loved the ending. I hate how so many formulaic Hollywood dramas need to have drawn-out, long, stupid endings. All the best recent indies (Funny Ha Ha, Winter Solstice, Lost in Translation, etc.) all have beautiful endings where not everything is tied up in a neat little ribbon, and some ambiguities are allowed to remain.

"Yes, I'd like a cheeseburger, please, large fries and a cosmopolitan!"

[–] NeoA4 19 years ago

moving and wonderfully acted.

[–] Quentin36 19 years ago

C'mon....why is it that every time a movie that is sooo boring that you can barely watch everybody goes on about how it was "womderfully' dramatic and the acting was "incredible"
This movie had no real flow....Why was he attracted to her..they never develop her character. For all we know this is the first woman he has met since the accident. She made jewlery ..so what she was not a very intersting person.

The summer school teacher seemed very cool but they barley did anything with him. The younger son had some isuues and no one seemed to care about that.

The ending was just ridiculous....I mean I don't need a big tied up in a bow ending but please give me a little something...

[–] t_mac 19 years ago

movies shouldn't always be tied up. what's the point? it never challenges you to use some of your own creativity in watching films. I loved the ending. not everything was resolved because the family as a whole was never ready to move on with their lives after losing the mother.

as for jqm36,,, I agree about the teacher. Livingston is a good actor, and more of his influence on the hearing impaired boy would've been nice. but again, they live something for us to imagine.

[–] sacto-da 19 years ago

I thought it was good family movie. It may needed to be fleshed out a bit more. I still enjoyed it.
Donna A.

Some people are only alive because it is illegal to shoot them.

[–] The_Boxing_Cat 8 years ago

It felt real all the way through. I usually caught up in camera angles and the technical aspects of film making- I only thought about those things a few times, as opposed to every single scene!