Winter Solstice

Many independent American films aim for the disarming honesty of writer-director Josh Sternfeld's debut feature, but few achieve it. Winter Solstice tells the story of hardworking landscaper Jim Winters and his two teenage sons, a suburban New Jersey family struggling to cope with the death of their wife and mother, respectively. Anthony LaPaglia's burly physicality and quiet intensity are beautifully combined in the role of Jim, and he's ably supported by Aaron Stanford and Mark Webber as the Winters boys, and The West Wing's Allison Janney as a warmhearted house-sitter who rejuvenates Jim's romantic interest. A refreshingly intimate domestic drama that doesn't degenerate into overwrought soap opera, Winter Solstice is an extraordinary film about ordinary people, a lovely chamber-music piece in an era dominated by bombastic symphonic-scaled movies. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)