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The Movie:
"Snow Day" shocked many earlier this year by racking up 60 million dollars at the box office. Not because it was a kids movie that made that much, because it was a movie with Chevy Chase that made that much. Now that's good marketing at work. Although the film got knocked around by critics, as I sat and watched the picture at home, I thought, "hey, this isn't bad." Certainly, I'm not a part of the film's target audience, but some of the jokes are mildly funny and the performances aren't bad.
The story revolves around Hal, a somewhat nerdy high schooler, who finds himself in love with Claire, one of the most attractive members of the school's female population. A sudden, giant snowfall causes the school to take a "snow day", which is, of course, one of the most important days in a young child's life. Meanwhile, his father (Chase) is a weatherman who's embarassed because he has to wear goofy costumes to compete with the ratings of his competition. Elsewhere, his kid sister Natalie fights with Snow Plow Man to keep him from ruining the Snow Day. Quite a bit going on for a 90 minute kids movie.
The performances are very enjoyable - from the kids. Some of the adults like Jean Smart as a constantly working mother and Chase's performance seem a bit out of place. The kids, on the other hand, are funny and engaging performers and they take this material beyond average. "Snow Day" is something that kids will definitely enjoy and adults won't hate sitting through.
The DVD
VIDEO: Paramount's anamorphic transfer for "Snow Day" is excellent. The presentation, shown in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, has perfect sharpness throughout, and the images are very consistent in quality. Detail is excellent, and clarity is never lacking. The film's crisp, snowy exteriors look particularly clear and clean.
As for flaws, I really didn't find any. The print used is clear free of any sort of the usual problems; no pixelation, no shimmering and only a couple of extremely slight marks on the print used. Colors are strong when they appear, and stand out nicely against the white, snowy backgrounds.
Black level is strong, and flesh tones are accurate and natural. Extremely nice work from Paramount.
SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is pretty normal for a kid's film, not going to overboard in any element, and keeping the dialogue and music as the focus. The film's pop score takes center stage for the majority of the movie, sounding dynamic and often offered by the surrounds. Aside from that, the surrounds are pretty much silent. Dialogue is clear and easily heard, and although the film isn't really that intense, there were a few things that I would have liked - how about a couple of instances where the snowballs fly by in the surrounds? Only kidding - "Snow Day"'s soundtrack will likely satisfy it's kiddie audience.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated and basic, with film-themed images serving as the backgrounds for the menus.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary track from director Chris Koch and writers Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi. It's a sharply funny discussion, and although it's not very technical, there were quite a few comments that had me laughing. Some of the discussion involves the quest for the "Snow" of the title - when the production went to Canada, they found themselves in a particularly dry Winter.
During a freeze frame early on, one of them comments, "it was actually really hard to freeze time in real life." The rest of the discussion mainly focuses on what it was like to work with the actors and casting, or simply joking about the events in the film and what happened on the set. There are only a few pauses during the film, but they aren't distracting. A funny commentary worth a listen.
Snow Day Scoop: A documentary that has interviews with the cast and crew, who talk about their memories of "snow days" of their childhood. The feaurette also leads the viewer how the production was able to make the "snow" of the movie, since they weren't able to find a location that had already been snowed in. A fun and informative featurette that will teach kids about how the film was made without being too complicated. Lasts about 12 minutes.
Cast/Crew Interviews: A set of interviews with members of the cast and crew, who talk about their roles and their experiences on the set of "Snow Day". Runs a bit over 10 minutes.
Nicksclusive: A short promotional featurette from Nickelodeon(who co-produced the film) that has on-set footage of the cast fooling around and having fun.
Final Thoughts: Obviously, kids are going to want to see "Snow Day" on DVD and for that audience, it's recommended. Parents shouldn't be worried - this is a film that they can enjoy with their kids, as well.
Film Grade
The Film B-
DVD Grades
Video 95/A = (380/400 possible points)
Audio: 87/B = (348/400 possible points)
Extras: 86/B = (258/300 possible points)
Menus: 70/C- = (140/200 possible points)
Value: 84/B = (252/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1382/1600
DVD GRADE:B/86%
FILM GRADE: B-
DVD GRADE: B
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