Winter Solstice (2004)

Winter Solstice: Directed by Josh Sternfeld. With Anthony LaPaglia, Aaron Stanford, Mark Webber, Allison Janney. In this suburban drama, a widower confronts his older son’s decision to leave home and his younger son’s self-destructive behavior.

“Saw the film at Tribeca, and was very taken with it. So few films show normal, non-violent life to be as dramatic and as sweet and as hurtful as it really can be. This film does. The acting is terrific. The direction stays out of the way of the actors and the story. A young man has a hearing impairment, for example, but this is never called attention to or made maudlin use of–itu0026#39;s just there as part of the familyu0026#39;s reality. Same with the missing mother. Thatu0026#39;s part of the back story, and no one is going to spend minutes explaining it to the audience, you just enter into the familyu0026#39;s life as it goes on. Every moment is entirely believable, and usually, touching as well. I am afraid it may not reach many viewers, since it has not sex or violence to speak of, just the truth of family life.”