Movie-Winter Solstice

Starring Anthony LaPaglia, of Without A Trace fame, Winter Solstice (2005) is a quiet drama, focusing on the lives of three men, a father and two sons, one college age and one a high schooler. It is clear that he is a widower, and that there is a shared burden of the loss in the house. It is not a new loss, and though the wounds have not healed, they have at least scarred over somewhat, enough to make life livable.

But a crossroads comes, as LaPaglia must deal with the issue of his younger son's disciplinary problems, and of his older son's decision to move away. Life has already dealt him changes that he did not want or ask for, and so he is having a hard time with these changes, despite trying to be a good father. And into the equation, the thing that may help him accept change, a new neighbor. A woman oddly vivacious in a buttoned down neighborhood, and oddly out of place. And he oddly likes her.

Winter Solstice is quiet, but is not slow, in that it is a character study. As the movie moves on, we learn more of these people, like layers of an onion being peeled away, however reluctant they are to reveal themselves.

Perhaps these changes will finally allow wounds to heal. Winter Solstice tells this tale well, with fine acting and very nice story telling.