This is a story about a widower who is raising two older sons....and he's apparently not up to the challenge and the boys are essentially like boats set adrift. After the father (Anthony LaPaglia) meets a new neighbor (Allison Janney),things start to change a bit for the better.

"Winter Solstice" is a film that frustrated me. While it is a film about alienation, the director made some decisions to increase this sense of loneliness and isolation that ended up seriously damaging the movie. Part of this was achieved by having almost no soundtrack at all for the film. What little there was turned out to be a single guitar. It was supposed to sound lonely...it sounded more cheap. Part of the director's vision was also to have the actors say very, very little. As a result, sometimes what they did seemed strange and confusing (such as the beds on the lawn scene). The film also ends...with very little actually resolved. Overall, while a lot of reviewers liked the film, many others disliked it....and the absolute lack of energy is much of the reason folks dislike it....me included. Just a small amount of energy would have helped the story immensely...helped folks to care about these people. Instead, it just felt like it was trying too hard to be hip and indie...and you really never cared about the people and their predicaments. It's also a shame because LaPaglia and Janney are excellent actors....but you just couldn't tell here.

A family tragedy changed the lives of the Winters family. When we meet them, Jim, a landscape gardener, and his two children, Gabe and Pete, have not gotten over the death of the woman who held this family together. At this juncture of their lives, they appear resigned with what happened to them. The somewhat quiet family atmosphere is going to be suddenly changed.

Jim, the father, who has not seen another woman since his wife's death, is suddenly awakened from his lethargy with the arrival of a well meaning woman who is house sitting for friends in the neighborhood. Molly is a fine listener; she hears what Jim has to tell her, as he opens to recount the anguish, he and his children, have been living.

Gabe, the older son, is seeing Stacey, a lovely young woman who loves him in return. It comes as a shock when Gabe informs his father and brother he is moving to Tampa. Jim's immediate reaction is to ask "What about Stacey", to which he responds "I'm dealing with it". Gabe wants to leave the oppressive home atmosphere to re-start his life in a new area. His brother Peter, who was with his mother when the accident happened, can't express his feelings; he has kept his emotions bottled inside him. He is a bright young man, but does poorly in school, something one of his teachers, tries to get him to respond and participate in class.

Josh Sternfeld created a sensitive and beautifully restrained film that shows that not all in life is rosy and that people suffer when tragedy strikes. The director, who also wrote the screen play, knows this family well. Not everything is gloom and doom because we realize, as we watch, things will improve, especially for Jim, who is attracted by a woman who clearly understands his situation.

Anthony LaPaglia, who is also credited as one of the producers, shows he was the right actor to portray Jim Winters. This talented man doesn't make a false movement and stays true to his character all the time. Mr. LaPaglia, who worked with Allison Janney on Broadway in Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge", is again reunited with his co-star and they feel right for one another. Ms. Janney's Molly, although not a showy role, gives her an opportunity to shine.

Aaron Stanford is seen as the older son, Gabe, and Mark Webber is Peter. Both actors do a credible job under the sure direction of Mr. Sternfeld. Ron Livingston is the kind teacher who sees possibilities in Peter and Michele Monaghan is perfect as Stacey, the girl that is dumped without much logic, by Gabe.

"Winter Solstice" was beautifully photographed by Harlan Bosmajian, who captures the world of suburbia in all its glory. The atmospheric music is by John Leventhal. Josh Sternfeld created an intimate portrait about pain and anguish, as this family

WINTER SOLSTICE (2005) *** Anthony LaPaglia, Aaron Stanford, Mark Webber, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Michelle Monaghan, Brendan Sexton III, Ebon Moss-Bachrach. (Dir: Josh Sternfeld)

Echoes of "Ordinary People" and a first-writer's novella.

Anthony LaPaglia is an excellent actor whose talents have been lately on the small screen in the TV crime drama CBS hit "Without A Trace" but on screen it's been awhile since he's had the chance to shine and in his latest film his talents are on full display.

LaPaglia plays Jim Winters, a recently widowed father of two teenagers, attempting to hold things together including his moderately successful landscaping business in the lush suburbia of New Jersey. After the car crash that killed his beloved wife and the apparent glue to his brood the Winters family has been in a state of flux with his eldest son Gabe (Stanford) restless to break free from his dead-end job at a restaurant and his youngest son Pete (Webber) is aimlessly attempting to rebel by being a chronic late-to-riser and winding up in summer school much to their chagrin. All the while Jim has kept his grief to himself and apparently blaming himself.

Enter Molly Ripkin (Janney of NBC's "The West Wing") a newcomer who enters the picture as a neighbor's house sitter who breaks Jim's cloud by moving in a few doors down enlisting Jim to help her move in and by returning the favor invites him and his boys to a dinner. Jim is naturally awkward and still trying to heal his new wounds but sees some salvation in this sudden change of events but still must deal with his head-strong sons when Gabe announces he's saved enough money to drive down south to stay with a friend in Florida, even leaving his girlfriend Stacey (Liv Tyler look-alike Monghan) behind.

Novice filmmaker Sternfeld (making his directorial debut) – who also wrote the screenplay – tiptoes around the familiar angst in suburbia route that "Ordinary People" furrowed 25 years ago but shrewdly makes this more of a character study than a soap opera melodrama; the film feels like a first time writer's early novella. His casting of LaPaglia anchors the film with an implosive anger and rising feel of uncertainty yet doesn't rely on pyrotechnique of the human emotions that often blister what is lurking under the surface of complacency: fear and anger. LaPaglia has a few nice moments where the emotions are bubbling (I especially liked his encounter at a teacher/parent meeting where he almost bursts out in barely restrained ire) and tries to find his footing when Janney enters the picture; he clearly wants to move on but is plagued by his own hatred of himself which is subtle yet on display with his interactions with his sons.

The acting is fine – Janney is a drink of ice water in an arid story of sadness and dislocation; Stanford and Webber have a good feel for their characters as not atypical teens and Livingston has some fun as the summer school teacher who seems as bored as his charges with ancient history.

The only problem overall is the pacing seems a bit off and is arguably too low-key prompting the viewer to expect a fireworks display of feelings to come skyrocketing out of nowhere but this is not what Sternfeld has in mind and yet the stillness works. As does the rustic guitar-playing acoustic score by John Leventhal.

A nice little indie film with some assured acting and interactions that often are overlooked in the multiplexes, even in the wilds of Jersey. Trust me, I had to venture to the jungles of Manhattan to catch this gem.