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Jack Frost
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
This was one of those movies I wanted to see when it was in the theaters, but was afraid to do so only because its reviews weren't too favorable. Well, the reviewers were right -- in a way. Now, before I go on, it's important to note that this 'Jack Frost' is not the one with a serial killer. Quite the opposite.
A family film worth viewing once with a child in the room, Jack Frost nails the 'lost opportunity' message without fumbling. The plot (if you could call it that) is not incredibly unique: father doesn't pay enough attention to son, son is upset, father is killed, son becomes introverted, father comes back as a snowman to save son from being psychologically messed up for the rest of his life. The story moved so slowly, although the characters were believable -- to a point. It's so hard to find movies with decent child actors; Joseph Cross isn't one of them. His facial expressions were dull, and I felt he was a bit too hard on his dad for not paying enough attention to him. At least, for the reasons given. Perhaps that's just as much a dialogue problem?
Michael Keaton's role as the well-meaning-but-time-constrained father could have easily been played by Robin Williams; there are moments in the film when improvisation could help scenes move along. Keaton did a good job -- don't get me wrong. It was good enough to choke me up towards the end, but not good enough to watch it a second time. Again, it's worth viewing -- ONCE.
The special effects? Probably the most intriguing part of the film. Although they weren't over-the-top, and at some moments were downright cheesy (er, snowy... as the case may be). There's only so much you can do with a snowman, but at least the director didn't rely on it to carry the film. If only there were more scenes like the one in the beginning -- where there was a big snowball fight between the older and younger children. It was like watching a war movie -- without the gore.
Now, as far as the DVD itself is concerned -- disappointing. I just got the Cambridge Soundworks DTT2500 Digital Surround Sound system (Dolby Digital 5.1) and the film sounded just peachy on my PC. The video was crisp on WinDVD 2.0 and the Hercules 3D Prophet DDR-DVI (although the Toshiba 3109 pushed forth better overall visual quality, which goes without saying). So where are the extras? When I see behind the scenes, I want to see videos -- not simple stills. I'd also would have liked to see more info on the soundtrack (this flick was filled with terrific tunes).
Overall, it would probably be more fun to build a snowman than to watch the movie... more than once.
A family film worth viewing once with a child in the room, Jack Frost nails the 'lost opportunity' message without fumbling. The plot (if you could call it that) is not incredibly unique: father doesn't pay enough attention to son, son is upset, father is killed, son becomes introverted, father comes back as a snowman to save son from being psychologically messed up for the rest of his life. The story moved so slowly, although the characters were believable -- to a point. It's so hard to find movies with decent child actors; Joseph Cross isn't one of them. His facial expressions were dull, and I felt he was a bit too hard on his dad for not paying enough attention to him. At least, for the reasons given. Perhaps that's just as much a dialogue problem?
Michael Keaton's role as the well-meaning-but-time-constrained father could have easily been played by Robin Williams; there are moments in the film when improvisation could help scenes move along. Keaton did a good job -- don't get me wrong. It was good enough to choke me up towards the end, but not good enough to watch it a second time. Again, it's worth viewing -- ONCE.
The special effects? Probably the most intriguing part of the film. Although they weren't over-the-top, and at some moments were downright cheesy (er, snowy... as the case may be). There's only so much you can do with a snowman, but at least the director didn't rely on it to carry the film. If only there were more scenes like the one in the beginning -- where there was a big snowball fight between the older and younger children. It was like watching a war movie -- without the gore.
Now, as far as the DVD itself is concerned -- disappointing. I just got the Cambridge Soundworks DTT2500 Digital Surround Sound system (Dolby Digital 5.1) and the film sounded just peachy on my PC. The video was crisp on WinDVD 2.0 and the Hercules 3D Prophet DDR-DVI (although the Toshiba 3109 pushed forth better overall visual quality, which goes without saying). So where are the extras? When I see behind the scenes, I want to see videos -- not simple stills. I'd also would have liked to see more info on the soundtrack (this flick was filled with terrific tunes).
Overall, it would probably be more fun to build a snowman than to watch the movie... more than once.
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