Having just finished watching this, and then reading the other reviews I am at a loss for all the fuss about the sub par special effects. They looked a lot better than the 250 million dollar Oz the Great and Powerful, which felt sadly fake in near every scene, and both movies are fantasy, so I saw nothing lacking in the special effects. The dialog in the opening of the movie for about 20 minutes is really just not great, but being a fan of Nightwish I stayed with the movie, and was glad to do so by the halfway mark. The other reviewers pointed out the homages so I will skip them. Coming at this film after seeing Tommy, The Wall, and Harry Potter films, I was not left in the lurch as many were about what was going on. I knew darn well I was seeing symbolism at every turn and was enthralled by it. The scene where the generations overlap in their pain was pure brilliance on the screen. I had never seen optics used in such a way to juxtapose two time periods and create a mood while still piling on the symbolism to even deeper meanings. The skipped words between characters in certain scenes is tasty for those who like being appreciated by the filmmakers to be smart enough to recognize what they were - like with the combination. It may not start out tidy but it gets that way. I was surprised by the idea that it was a movie with music and not a music movie. I was under the impression it would be more like Tommy than The Wall, it's not. The brief appearances by the band did leave me wanting way more, because I am fan of the group, but it didn't hurt the movie a bit. If only the beginning was as good as the rest I would give it all the stars, but it does open so poorly it would not be honest.

Tom Whitman (Francis X. McCarthy) is a composer and poet who has reached the end of his life. He has severe dementia and is hospitalized. His daughter GeM (Marianne Farley) hates him. The film consists of a plot and subplot concerning his life and their relationship.

Tom lives in an imaginary world, reliving his life through music and heavy symbolism. In his mind he is trying to remember and reach out to his daughter. Meanwhile we get to see the daughter's life as she rediscovers her father's life and learns who he really is.

The film is artsy. It is filled with symbolism such as toys representing the people he stepped on and takes place in winter, i.e. the end of the life cycle. The winter/white symbolism is contrasted with the red of life's blood. This film is clearly not for everyone. I'm not even sure it was for me. I'm still trying to figure it out. It may take another viewing. Great soundtrack.

Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Just scary clowns and a snowman.

During my elementary years they showed us this cartoon about a flying snowman and a boy. I always found it kinda sad and haunting for some reason and very dreamlike. Now I wouldn't say this is a haunting movie but it does have it's presence. Not a strong one but it's passable, and imaginative in the "A Christmas Carol". Except it has rock music to get you through it and the music is entertaining and catchy. Most of it is by the band "Nightwish" that also makes appearances. When we get older or life gets difficult in some areas we have the tenacity to reminisce of the young good old days or go into a fantasy world. And that is sort of the theme for this movie. Movies like this doesn't get much backing from the studio and it's kind of a indie film. But the makers have room to do whatever they want with it, despite the limitation when it comes to the budget. It's visceral experience and a journey that a lot of us will take someday. It's not a movie I would see again but despite few areas I thought is lacking, this one still has a bit of heart.

7/10