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Review

Josh Sternfeld's first feature, developed at the 2001 Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab, is an incredibly intimate, observant male drama about a New Jersey widower, his two teenaged sons and the loss that they cannot articulate. Anchored by Anthony LaPaglia's solid lead performance as Jim Winters — a portrait of strong innocence and innocent strength — Sternfeld's quiet film captures, with acute precision, the immobilized state of LaPaglia's character and how he copes with the different ways in which his boys are "acting out." Younger son Pete (Mark Webber) is slacking off in school and adopting self-destructive behavior, while older son Gabe (Aaron Stanford, the young star of Tadpole) has made plans to escape from the family and go to Florida. Jim's late wife is hardly mentioned, but her absence is palpable. Sternfeld's approach to his material is subtle, empathetic and unusually gentle: whenever there's a rare emotional outburst, you really feel it. The indispensable Allison Janney matches up well with LaPaglia as his new neighbor — and possible new romantic interest — and Ron Livingston is a welcome quirky presence as a no-nonsense summer school teacher. The film's refreshing lack of frills and artifice is perhaps best epitomized by John Levanthal's pleasingly simple, melancholy guitar score. Winter Solstice is a marvelous introduction to a promising new filmmaker.

 -- Joe Baltake