Winter Passing
Focus Features | Release Date: February 17, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
14
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
L.A. WeeklyJames C. Taylor
Winter Passing showcases Rapp's clever, conversational dialogue, while Harris, Deschanel, and Will Ferrell - on hand for comic relief as a Christian rocker turned literary bouncer - breathe life into this whimsical, but ultimately conventional, family drama. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirschling
Winter Passing is also being called ''the serious Will Ferrell movie,'' but he's not especially serious in it. Put it this way: His character Corbit is one of those movie types who's into ''kar-a-tay,'' which is a joke that must officially die. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Harris gamely attacks his tortured, cliche-ridden character, but Deschanel, so likably offbeat in "All the Real Girls" and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," comes off as just plain annoying and self-centered. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Its familiar story of an embittered child's homecoming and confrontation with a parent throws off dramatic sparks, but they never flare into a blaze. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
With the exception of a few unpredictable moments from Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrell, Winter Passing finds only cliche as it reaches for profundity. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
An odd little movie with artistic aspirations and a bare touch of comedy that offers sights you never expected (nor hoped) you'd see - like Will Ferrell playing it straight (more or less) and Zooey Deschanel drowning an innocent kitten. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Deschanel manages to make Winter Passing almost matter. That's real talent. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Ferrell and Warner, however, are distractions--the obligatory dose of "eccentricity" thrown in as seasoning to make the real story more digestible. But they serve instead as irritants; too much spice, if you will. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
There isn't a spark in the familiar emotional situation or a reason to care how these amiably bland characters end up. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Shockingly, it's an understated but amusing Ferrell who keeps Winter Passing from growing unbearable. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Winter Passing is full of nice dramatic turns, including one from relative-unknown Amelia Warner as Harris' former student-turned-nanny (and possible lover). What Winter Passing lacks, however, is a reason to exist other than as a dramatic exercise. Read full review
40
VarietyRobert Koehler
Family drama appears content to present the situation without going for anything remotely close to the emotional jugular. Result is unsatisfying and even dreary, despite some fine work from Zooey Deschanel and a becalmed Will Ferrell. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJessica Winter
The film is so grindingly predictable that I was writing out a full plot synopsis in my notebook before it was half over, though the thick grains of Terry Stacey's photography and Deschanel's understated performance add a little kick to the family-dysfunction paces, and Ferrell's dive-bar rendition of the Eagles' "I Can't Tell You Why" is positively riveting. Winter Passing should have been a musical. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Winter Passing is one dull, extended encounter session among hackneyed characters -- although Deschanel gets the most points for almost imitating a human. Read full review
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