"Uneven Role Models"
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What You Need To Know:
Although SNOW DAY resolves most of its plots and subplots in a moral fashion, the movie has some bad role models for children. For example, the story of the daughter versus the dreaded Snowplowman has the children taking such actions as stealing and kidnapping. At one point, they even cause the Snowplowman to accidentally run into a parked car covered with snow. Hence, this is not a movie for little children, and parents even need to exercise caution and discernment if they send their older children or teenagers to this movie. Also, although the rest of the movie’s content is only mildly objectionable at times, the mother is a workaholic and the father is an uninvolved dunce.
Content:
(Ro, Pa, FR, B, L, V, N, MM) Romantic worldview of satisfying emotional desires of children, with some mild pagan, false religious & moral content, including some magical daydreaming & talk of “Destiny”; 7 mild obscenities, 1 mild profanity, the start of one strong obscenity (an “s” word) that is left unfinished, & more than several jokes about passing gas; mild slapstick violence such as children pelt school principal with snowballs; no sex, just some teenage kissing & teenage boy obsesses about popular girl; no nudity during kissing scenes but teenagers wear swimming suits at school pool & teenage girl wears thin, tight sweatshirt in one scene; and, miscellaneous objectionable content such as mom is a workaholic who eventually stops working for a moment to spend time with her youngest child, dad is an uninvolved dunce who exposes a lying professional weatherman, teenage boys drive snowmobiles recklessly, & children resort to stealing, carelessness & even kidnapping to force a man to unplow the snow-filled streets.
More Detail:
One of the best things about snow, as far as school-age children are concerned, is the fact that a heavy snow can cause schools to cancel all classes for the day. That’s the event that triggers the plot and subplots in Nickelodeon and Paramount’s, the makers of RUGRATS, new family movie, SNOW DAY.
Chevy Chase plays a TV weatherman named Tom Brandston in Syracuse, New York who’s waging a losing battle with a slick, rival weatherman named Chad Symmonz. Chad is a local star with a dedicated following. When Chad falsely takes credit for predicting a large snowfall first, Tom tries to find a way to reveal the truth.
Tom’s family is having troubles of their own. His wife Laura (Jean Smart), a workaholic trying to close an important business deal, must keep their young son Randy, age 4, occupied so that she can close her deal over the phone. Tom’s oldest son Hal, played by rising young actor Mark Webber, dreams of a teenage heartthrob at his school, Claire Bonner, played by Emmanuelle Chriqui. When Claire breaks up with her clueless boyfriend, Hal thinks he just might have a chance with her – if only he can get up the nerve to talk to her. Hal enlists the help of his friend Lane (Schuyler Fisk, the daughter of actress Sissy Spacek), a girl who actually has a secret crush on Hal. Meanwhile, Hal’s younger sister Natalie, played by Zena Grey, is upset that Hal no longer shows an interest in helping her defeat the dreaded Snowplowman, played by comic actor Chris Elliott. Snowplowman is a suburban Darth Vader who has haunted the local kids’ snow days for generations.
Most of the movie focuses on Hal’s efforts to attract the interest of Claire and on Natalie’s efforts to defeat the evil Snowplowman. Unhappily for Hal, his efforts have also attracted the notice of Claire’s ex-boyfriend, Chuck Wheeler, a Superjock and master of what he calls “the Chuck Wheeler House of Pain.” Unhappily for Natalie, the Snowplowman keeps finding ways to stop her plans to force him to unplow the streets so that she and her friends can enjoy the rare occurrence of a second consecutive snow day.
There are some clever bits in SNOW DAY, such as an explanation of the origin and character of snowflakes by Hal. The funny antics that Hal goes through to land an intimate moment with Claire are also enjoyable to watch. Despite this, the other stories in the movie seem relatively uninspired. For instance, Hal’s father merely shows up during an outdoor taping of one of his rival’s weathercasts to expose the man.
Media-wise moviegoers should demand a little bit more than this from family movies. Perhaps the filmmakers should have spent more time thinking of ways to combine all their stories, so that the resolution of one story could help resolve the plot of another story.
SNOW DAY ends most of its plots and subplots in a moral fashion, especially Hal’s story. The rest of the movie, however, has some bad role models for children. For example, the story of Natalie versus the dreaded Snowplowman has the kids taking such actions as stealing and kidnapping. At one point, they even cause the Snowplowman to accidentally run into a parked car covered with snow. Hence, this is not a movie for little children, and parents even need to exercise caution and discernment if they send their older children or teenagers to this movie. Also, although the rest of the movie’s content is only mildly objectionable at times, the mother is a workaholic and the father is kind of an uninvolved dunce who’s also focused on his career.
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