Full Review

"Winter Solstice" (Paramount Classics) is an engrossing, modestly scaled domestic drama about blue-collar widower Jim Winters (Anthony LaPaglia) coping with his two teenage boys. His wife, we learn, was killed in a car accident several years earlier. Jim misses her terribly, and though he's been a model father -- hardworking (in the landscape business) and caring -- the boys are unhappy.

Gabe (Aaron Stanford), the eldest, announces without warning that he's planning to leave home and bunk with a friend in Florida, despite his strong ties to his father and brother, and a girlfriend, Stacey (Michelle Monaghan), who plainly doesn't want him to leave.

Pete (Mark Webber), who had been with his mother when she was killed, is a troublesome, moody student. He wears a hearing aid, possibly a result of the collision, chronically sleeps late, picks fights, and is less than punctual in school. But they're both basically decent boys.

When the compassionate Molly Ripken (Allison Janney), an attractive paralegal, sublets a neighboring house, she borrows a dolly from Jim. Later, when she goes to Jim's house to return it, she invites all of them to dinner as a thank-you.

Despite Jim's insistence that they make it a family outing, the boys never show, so Jim goes alone, and makes excuses for his boys. When he returns home, he's so angry he tosses the boys' mattresses and bedding onto the front lawn and locks them out for the night.

Meanwhile, at school, Pete's summer-school teacher, Mr. Bricker (Ron Livingstone), discerns Pete's innate quality, and makes headway in motivating the boy more than before.

For all the tension between Jim and his sons, there's a loving bond among them. And though the boys seem rebellious and fight with each other, there's a solid relationship underneath.

Writer-director Sternfeld has crafted a sensitive slice-of-life story with dialogue that rings absolutely true.

The performances are extraordinary. LaPaglia -- who also produced the film -- is especially fine, conveying a range of emotions with minimal histrionics. Janney is all warm empathy. And Webber and Stanford register all the undefined confusion of teenagers who have been hurt and are acting out their inner conflicts as boys their age can do. Livingston is excellent as the caring teacher.

Ultimately, "Winter Solstice" imparts a good pro-family and hopeful message, so a film, which could have been unrelievedly somber actually ends on a positive, uplifting note.

This film contains rough and crude language, a couple of brief violent episodes and tobacco use. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.