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Winter Passing

Play trailer Poster for Winter Passing R 2005 1h 38m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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40% Tomatometer 52 Reviews 61% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Tired of struggling to be an actress, Reese Holden (Zooey Deschanel) leaves New York and returns to her Michigan home. She has a cash advance from a book editor who wants to publish the love letters of Reese's parents. Reese has a strained relationship with her dad, a washed-up novelist, but she enters the household he shares with an ex-student and a shy friend who takes care of domestic matters.
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Winter Passing

Winter Passing

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Critics Consensus

This dour coming-of-age story has nothing to distinguish it from similarly themed indie fare.

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Critics Reviews

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Allison Benedikt Chicago Tribune Midway through, Rapp loses momentum, failing to hone in on just what kind of movie he wants to make, and Winter Passing languishes in that no-man's land between tiny, meandering, indie drama and plotted, pointed family melodrama. Rated: 2.5/4 Mar 11, 2006 Full Review Walter V. Addiego San Francisco Chronicle This flawed drama about a self-destructive young actress and her reclusive novelist father has its rewards, mainly in some good performances. Rated: 3/4 Mar 10, 2006 Full Review Ty Burr Boston Globe There are intriguing actors and ideas here, but only occasionally do they combine with convincing force. Rated: 2.5/4 Mar 10, 2006 Full Review Debbie Lynn Elias Behind The Lens Although tediously slow at points, Winter Passing has a purveyingly powerful familial dynamic from start to finish. Nov 6, 2019 Full Review Christopher Campbell Cinematical While Deschanel is the reason to see Winter Passing, her support is nearly impeccable in keeping it from being a one-woman show. Rated: 3/5 Sep 17, 2007 Full Review Doris Toumarkine Film Journal International A cold, hard work inhabited by tortured or incidental characters who embody an interior journey that is neither entertaining nor cathartic. Mar 1, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Eddie T Dull, cruel nonsense with completely unsympathetic main characters. What a waste of film. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 05/14/24 Full Review Michael B Dull, glacial, and deeply self-indulgent. Why drown a kitten? Because this movie sucks. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 04/05/24 Full Review Kat C Animal cruelty in the first 20 minutes that's absolutely worthless and pointless. It's also BS because she could just have the vet put the cat down instead of drowning it. I definitely wasn't expecting a movie with Will Farrell and Zoe D. to start out so horrendous Rated 1 out of 5 stars 12/10/23 Full Review Ranee M Horrible character played by Zoey Deschanel. Kills a kitten by putting it in a backpack and throwing it in the river. Not even going to finish it. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 11/22/23 Full Review Ravenswood R It wasn't that bad. Kind of boring at times. Zooey Deschanel is very good I think. People are all upset about the cat - but it shows where she is at mentally, and that in leaving New York she is kind of giving up and accepting fate, which can be a very cruel and death-like thing that happens to a person, hence the cruelty of the scene. It bothered me, too, but I accepted it as the culmination of very hard and harmfully dissolute times for the character. Ed Harris is great but there is not much to his character. Other supporting cast is good. It is an insular and somewhat confining little film, but interesting and moody. The end flips a switch that I don't think should have been touched, but OK, not my choice. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/10/23 Full Review Audience Member The first third of the movie was detailed and promising. It introduced interesting characters within the NYC theater scene as well. But then it was like a different writer took over the whole script and suddenly we are in Detroit in some mash up of David Auburn's play Proof....Will Fargo is playing guitar and why?? And absolutely nothing gets resolved about anyone, but I guess the father has something to live for in the end because he is writing a novel called Golf? Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Winter Passing

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Cast & Crew

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Adam Rapp

Director

Ed Harris

Don Holden

Zooey Deschanel

Reese Holden

Will Ferrell

Corbit

Amelia Warner

Shelly

Amy Madigan

Lori Lansky

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Winter Passing

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Movie Info

Synopsis Tired of struggling to be an actress, Reese Holden (Zooey Deschanel) leaves New York and returns to her Michigan home. She has a cash advance from a book editor who wants to publish the love letters of Reese's parents. Reese has a strained relationship with her dad, a washed-up novelist, but she enters the household he shares with an ex-student and a shy friend who takes care of domestic matters.
Director
Adam Rapp
Producer
Laura Bickford, P. Jennifer Dana
Screenwriter
Adam Rapp
Production Co
Mint Pictures, Stratus Film Co.
Rating
R (Some Drug Use|Sexuality|Language)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Feb 17, 2006
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 2, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$106.6K
Runtime
1h 38m
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