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Slow pace makes 'Winter Solstice' feel right

Little really happens and little is actually said in Josh Sternfeld's quiet debut film, Winter Solstice. That is part of what makes this movie about loss, letting go and starting over so remarkable.

It is the story of landscape gardener Jim Winters (Anthony LaPaglia) and the gulf between him and his two teenage sons, Gabe (Aaron Stanford) and Pete (Mark Webber).

Paramount Classics 'Winter Solstice' B+ The verdict: An observant, well-acted look at a father and his two sons trying to get beyond a family trauma. Director: Josh Sternfeld Starring: Anthony LaPaglia, Aaron Stanford, Mark Webber, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston Run time: 93 minutes Release date: March 30, 2005 Rating: R for language. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate "Winter Solstice"   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Each in his own way is still dealing with the death of their wife and mother, pushing it aside for the past five years. Sternfeld has such an aching sense of how these people do not communicate with each other that he includes us in that circle, waiting until the film is two-thirds over before telling what happened to her.

But that information is not the point, as much as the still-hovering aftermath that threatens to tear this family apart. Younger brother Pete is in high school, smart but punishing himself by not exerting any energy toward his graduation. Gabe is drifting in a dead-end job, until he suddenly announces to his family and girlfriend (sweet-faced, sullen-eyed Michelle Monaghan) his intention to leave their small New Jersey town for Tampa.

And Jim, befuddled by single parenting, turns down well-meaning neighbors' attempts to introduce him to women, then finds dormant feelings stirred by a newly arrived paralegal housesitter (Allison Janney).

Sternfeld's filmmaking style depends largely on silences, pauses and leisurely montages. It would be easy to see how impatient moviegoers could get exasperated by Winter Solstice, but they would be missing the tempo of real life and the sound of unpolished dialogue.

All of this depends, of course, on a cast assured enough not to need action or even events to hide behind. LaPaglia, best known for the television series Without a Trace, has done some terrific understated work in such films as Lantana and The Guys, and again delivers a performance of seeming simplicity with so much churning underneath the surface.

Webber is a compelling presence, an actor who can convey a lot with a slacker grunt and his scenes with Ron Livingston as a summer school history teacher trying to break through to him are a particularly involving tangent. Stanford (Tadpole) also is quite natural, even as he shuts down verbally, preparing to break with his family.

The West Wing's Janney has a mastery of awkwardness that serves her well as she tries to pry open Jim and get close to him. Their dinner together is a small gem of disconnected conversation. Still, it is good to see her in a romantic role, even as tentative as this one is.

Although the death of Jim's wife is the prime cause of the family's breakdown, perhaps Sternfeld has also captured something about the difficulty of communication between men, particularly fathers and sons. Contrast it with the female household of The Upside of Anger, which is also hit by trauma, which releases torrents of chatter.

For those attuned to independent films — Winter Solstice was developed at the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab — this is a rewarding look at a family in anguish from a director with a promising future.