Blizzard (2003)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This is not another Christmas romance. It is a story about one of the hard things we must all face in life. A little girl is grieving over the loss of her closest friend. Her parents bring in her eccentric aunt to help cheer her up. The aunt tells her a story about another little girl and another time and what she learned about the changing face of friendship. I wasn't in the mood for a Christmas movie but when I saw LeVar Burton's name in the credits, I decided to watch a bit of it. Once it began, I never considered changing the channel. While part of this movie is fantasy, the point rings very true and very real. Although there is magic involved, there is no magic healing solution for Jess's grief. She learns what we all must learn. There is a way to move on. The story is rich and rewarding and the costumes and scenery for the scenes from the past are particularly well done. I saw it for the first time yesterday and will be recommending it to anyone wanting something to watch alone or with their family over Christmas. While a houseful of rowdy little boys may find it rather tame, their parents most likely will love it. It is perfect for families with little girls.

I caught the last half of this movie on TV a couple of years ago and loved what I saw so much I went out and bought it---it's now one of our favorite family Christmas movies! Apart from the really sweet story, I loved the 'nostalgia' and atmospheric aspects---the outdoor skating rink with people in vintage knitted Mary Maxim sweaters, the lovely little girl skaters, the 'small town' wintery feel---all things that brought back such memories growing up in Ontario in the 50's and 60's. British actress Brenda Blethyn did a great job as Aunt Millie, although it took me a couple of minutes to get used to her North American accent! Using Quebec for the North Pole was great and really makes me want to go for a visit. The only thing, and a relatively small one, that I noticed was it was clearly obvious the young girl skating was not Zoe Warner (Katie). Her face could be seen clearly several times---I wonder why more effort wasn't put in to disguising her a bit better. Other than that, the movie is a delight and I highly recommend it! Think I might just go and grab a coffee and watch it again!

This has been out since 2003 and I never saw it until last night. It is a good movie...one that will bring back memories to some and will make younger ones think and yet it has a good ending. Everyone should watch this at least once and maybe make it a Christmas classic with all the other Christmas movies. It will be a good movie for those who are young all the way to those who are elderly. To me this is a movie that you sit together as a family with a bowl of fresh popped popcorn and afterward ask your children what they thought and what their favorite part of the movie was. Then ask them what they think about friendship. The skating also in the movie was very good to watch. It is definitely a movie worth watching over and over.

My family got this movie in a Christmas gift basket from my husband's employer. I looked at it and saw that it had a few actors I have heard of and I kind of put off watching it. Last night I noticed Levar Burton directed it and I changed my mind. I have enjoyed his work so much on Reading Rainbow and Star Trek TNG. We sat down today to watch Blizzard and no one left until the show was over. We absolutely enjoyed this movie. My youngest is just 2 and she was enthralled with the character of Blizzard. Whoopi Goldberg did an excellent job of playing a young gifted reindeer. Kevin Pollock was so fun to watch. He was soooo bossy. The story brings a touch of magic to Christmas and I wished we had watched it last week before the holidays. It will be a movie we watch every year.