Rent Snow Day on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Will McRobb & Chris Viscardi
Directed by: Chris Koch
Starring: Chevy Chase, Mark Webber, Schuyler Fisk, Chris Elliott, Jean Smart, Iggy Pop, Pam Grier, John Schneider, Josh Peck
Rated: PG
Watch the trailer
Plot
When a school in upstate New York is snowed in, a family of five each have their own unique adventures.
Verdict
This is a lot of fun, mixing stories of adults, teens, and kids. That offers a little something for everyone, but this is certainly magical realism. What I like about this is how well it captures the spirit that anything is possible on a snow day. The unrequited teen love story is a bit stale, but it's mitigated but the other sub-plots.
Watch It.
Review
I remember really liking this when I first watched it upon release. It just captured the feeling and energy of a snow day that borders on fantasy.
This follows the Brandston family. The two main plots involve the kids. Hal (Mark Webber) has a crush on the popular girl. It's a tired plot full of tropes, and the only saving grace is Hal's sister Nat's (Zena Gray) plot to stop the Snow Plow Man (Chris Elliot) and gain one more snow day. Sub-plots involved father Tom (Chevy Chase) competing with a rival weatherman and mom Laura (Jean Smart) trying work through the snow day.
 |
| Schuyler Fisk and Mark Webber play Lane and Hal |
These stories capture the spirit and different aspects of a snow day. It also keeps the pacing quick. This is a light movie with plenty of simple humor, but it's effective.
Snow Plow Man is the closest thing to a villain. He's the reason snow days end. Nat's story is easily the most fun and fantastical, involving ambushes and kidnappings all in good fun, This balances Hal's story. He's obsessed with the popular girl as his best friend Lane (Schuyler Fisk) tags along on his exploits. Thankfully this isn't the main plot. If it was this movie would be a complete bore. Everything about this plot has been done before.
 |
| Chevy Chase plays Tom |
This invokes plenty of tropes, but it pulls most of them together quite well. This gets as close to the perfect snow day as possible, and kids get to have power and control in the world of adults. That's how many magical realism kids movies work. It's that nostalgia that helps propel this. Providing intertwining plots for all members of the family provides entertainment for all ages.
No comments :
Post a Comment