Winter Passing
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Winter Passing is a film written and directed by first-timer Adam Rapp, also known for his work on the show The L Word. The film stars Zooey Deschanel and Ed Harris, with supporting performances by Will Ferrell, Amelia Warner, and Deidre O'Connell. The film was released in 2005 to mixed reviews.
[edit] Summary
Deschanel plays Reese Holdin, a depressed twenty-something living in New York City and trying to make a living as an actress. In the beginning of the film, Reese is in a production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. Reese is lost and emotionally dead. She uses sex, cocaine, and even self-inflicted pain to either feel emotion or escape from her life. When a book publisher approaches her, we learn that Reese is the daughter of a famous author named Don Holdin (Harris), and her mother Mary recently passed away. Reese did not attend the funeral, but a series of love letters written between Don and Mary were left to her. The publisher offers to pay $100,000 to obtain the set of letters.
There is obvious tension within the family, but Reese decides to travel back home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, probably in need of the money. She returns to find her house occupied by Corbit (Ferrell) and Don's former student, Shelley (Warner), while her father lives, writes, and drinks in his garage. Reese clashes with the too-perfect Shelley, who she suspects might be sleeping with her father. She also bonds with Corbit, who innocently vies for her attention. She feels out of place at home and fights with her father about her childhood, where she seemed largely ignored.
Don Holdin is still grieving over the death (suicide by hanging) of his wife. Midway through the movie, Reese discovers him passed out on the floor of the garage, apparently after he overdosed on alcohol and sleeping pills. He recovers in the hopsital, where Reese reads his newest novel, which she found buried in the backyard. The experience brings her closer to her father, and she returns to New York, more hopeful. In the end we see her performing a monologue she had written.
[edit] Influences
Some discussion has existed about the story being loosely based on J.D. Salinger's life and family. The last name "Holdin" could refer to the characater of Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye. Don Holdin is a recluse who refuses to see visitors and has not published a work in almost twenty years. The discord in the Holdin family, especially as it affected Reese, could be seen as similar to Margaret A. Salinger's life and published memoirs, Dream Catcher. Salinger was known for his relationships with younger, often teenage women (Joyce Maynard being the most famous). It is suggested by Reese that her father and Shelley, who is 23, are sleeping together. This is the only film to speak of Traverse City, Michigan, and was feachered in its 2006 Film Festival for that.
