Review of Snow Day

Introduction

For many Northern US school-goers, snow days are to be fervently prayed for. "Schools close, roads disappear and grown men weep," as our hero Hal observes. At first glance, Snow Day is just a Nickelodeon movie, aimed at schoolkids and - no surprise - a kids-versus-grownups comedy.

Snow day is a little gem of a comedy and ideal Christmas fare for the youngsters in the family or second-childhood types like Yours Truly. The cast list includes names that would not be out of place in a front-line comedy from the days of Saturday Night Live.

The movie centres on the Branston clan. Dad Tom is a tv weatherman (played by the ever watchable Chevy Chase), obsessed with beating his smug rival tv weatherman Chad Symmonz (Dukes of Hazzards` John Schneider). Eldest son Hal has a crush on popular prom-queen-to-be Claire, and hopes to win her affections. Natalie, precocious ten-year-old middle child, dreams of a snow day and when it arrives finds herself head-to-head with her nemesis Snowploughman (Chris Elliott). The snow day also strands careerwoman Mom of the Branstons, Laura (Jean Smart) at home with the smallest Branston, Randy. She has to carry on her busy business day over the phone and videophone while trying to keep little Randy out of mischief. With support from a cast that includes Iggy Pop, Pam Grier and a couple of hundred youngsters, the result is an engagingly anarchic 85 minutes.

Video

Shot in 16:9 (1.78:1) anamorphic widescreen, the image is sharp, bright and well contrasted. Colours stand out against the sheer amount of snow. All the extras are shot 4:3.

Audio

A pleasing DD5.1 sound mix with beefy sound effects (especially the snowplough) and some very effective dynamic surround effects.

Features

Interviews, "Nicksclusives" - short tv spots, a short featurette and an engagingly chatty director-and-writers commentary track. The main feature is subtitled in English and fourteen other languages, but most interestingly of all, the commentary track is also subtitled (in German as well as English). This means you can watch the movie with the main soundtrack on and have the commentary run as subtitles (it`s hysterical this way). Other disk producers please take note!

Conclusion

This is a modern family film. Some jokes may offend the more uptight parent, but that`s what the PG rating is there for. If you fancy a nice, daft, funny film without having to worry about swearing, sex or violence, then you can`t go far wrong with this one.