Snow Day Review

by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)
February 10th, 2000

PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com

Realizing that the last time he was humorous was when he made a movie set in the snow, former funnyman Chevy Chase (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation) returns to winter pics with Snow Day, the latest film produced under television’s Nickelodeon moniker. Hilarity does not ensue – details at 11:00.

Luckily, Chase is only involved in one of the four prongs of Day’s script. He plays Tom Brandston, a wacky TV weatherman tired of playing second fiddle to Syracuse, New York’s meteorological deity, Chad Symmons (John Schneider, The Dukes of Hazzard). Tom is serious about his craft, while smarmy Chad never even went to meteorologist school. Like a college education is a requirement for predicting the weather these days.

Tom’s wife Laura (Jean Smart, Guinevere) is a workaholic with a cell phone permanently attached to her head. The Brandstons have three kids, and each fits the basic parameters for the typical Hollywood family. There’s fifteen-year-old Hal (Mark Webber, Drive Me Crazy), the dorky teen on the brink of adulthood. Then there’s ten-year-old Natalie (Zena Grey, The Bone Collector), the sassy middle kid that acts more adult than the actual adults. And then there’s Randy (Connor Matheus), the youngest Brandston, who is able to steal all of his scenes despite barely being able to sputter out his lines.

When a record snowfall hits upstate New York, each character is affected in ways that will forever change the way they approach life. Okay, it’s not that mind-blowing at all. Tom sees the storm as his big chance to show everyone that he’s the best darn weatherman in the godforsaken city. Laura realizes the importance of her family after she is trapped at home all day with Randy the bastard. Hal uses the day off to try to woo school sexpot Claire (Emmanuelle Chriqui, Detroit Rock City) away from bad-boy jock Chuck Wheeler (David Paetkau, Disturbing Behavior). And charming Natalie tries to settle the score with a demonic snowplow driver called Snowplowman (Chris Elliott, There’s Something About Mary).
The kids will love the flatulence jokes and, Dads, keep an eye peeled for Claire’s see-through t-shirt – it’s the most nipple I’ve seen in a PG film. The more hip adults in the audience may enjoy Iggy Pop (The Crow: City of Angels), who plays the proprietor of the town’s ice skating rink, where he punishes customers with lethargic Al Martino songs. Did he call his agent after seeing Henry Rollins in Jack Frost and say “Get me in a kids’ movie with snow”?

But most of the good parts have to do with Snowplowman. He’s got teeth like an Englishman, a bird named Trudy, a plow called “Darling Clementine” and tire chains made from the braces of kids that he’s run over. Like Natalie says, “It’s a snow day – anything can happen.” Such as the fact that Hal narrates the film despite only being in twenty-five percent of it.

Snow Day was made by the creative team that brought Kablam! to the small screen. Director Chris Koch and writers Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi are all alumnus of the popular sketch comedy show and Day is the feature film debut for all three filmmakers. While it’s not a particularly bad film, it’s better than the recent offerings from the sketch comedy dinosaur Saturday Night Live. Which brings us back to Mr. Chase, who, once again, shows that he’s as funny as a can of wadded beef.

1:25 - PG for mild adult language

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