An updated take on the traditional and beloved children's story and animated TV special, "Frosty the Snowman," "Jack Frost" is a cute, but mostly "by the numbers" production that may please younger kids, but will most likely test the patience of some adults who are forced to see it with their kids.
Children have long enjoyed the song and subsequent cartoon of a snowman who comes to life and is befriended by a child who must then save Frosty from rising temperatures and a villainous magician wanting Frosty's magical hat. Although this adaption maintains some of those elements, it jettisons others and throws in a family loss and reincarnation twist. Even so, the end result is that the film still lacks the necessary pizzaz to become the live action holiday classic it may have been.
Despite the presence of four screenwriters -- usually a bad sign despite their singular and collective track records of penning pictures such as "The Lion King," "James and the Giant Peach," "Simon Birch" and the "Grumpy Old Men" movies -- the film decidedly suffers from the lack of any sort of substantial plot beyond the initial setup. There are no "villains" (beyond some briefly used neighborhood bullies) and so the story is confined to dealing with a man's second chance to spend more quality time with his son.
While that’s usually not a bad thing, unfortunately, most of it’s squandered away with the standard issue "I should have been a better father" moments and by having Jack teaching his son some skill (in this case, a hockey shot) that he'll undoubtedly use later in the film (in a scene that unfortunately misses the necessary dramatic arc and isn't as satisfying and uplifting as it should have been).
While the melting element is finally introduced to insert some much needed complications and urgency into the story, there's just not enough there to liven things up enough to keep the overall story interesting -- despite the familiar and mostly workable setup.
Sure, there's some action material for the kids -- including a somewhat clever snowball fight staged like a military war movie battle, and an overdrawn, down the slopes chase scene -- but more often than not the filmmakers seem more intent on blaring any number of songs on the soundtrack than in telling an interesting and involving story.
Now, to be fair, the proceedings aren't horrible and the presence of big name stars such as Michael Keaton ("Batman," "Multiplicity") and Kelly Preston ("Jerry Maguire," "Twins") gives the film a much needed strong foundation. The performances from them, as well as Joseph Cross ('Wide Awake") and Mark Addy ("The Full Monty") are all decent, and the story contains the requisite "second chance" element that everyone's wished for at some point in their lives.
It's just too bad that more thought and/or effort wasn't put into making the film really special -- even when considering that we're talking about a snowman that's come to life. As a result, it's highly unlikely this will become a holiday classic, although as mentioned earlier, younger kids will probably find enough here to be entertained.
For those wondering how the snowman comes off in the film, while his character is appropriately kid-friendly, the overall visual effect never looked quite "real" to me. While I'll assume that no one has a real-life reference from which to compare the results of the technician's efforts, both the "puppet" work of Jim Henson's Creature Shop and the computer effects generated by Industrial Lights and Magic can't shake the artificial look that's present.
Although some will correctly argue that a snowman probably wouldn't have the fluid characteristics of say, a dinosaur from the "Jurassic Park" films, the resulting "mechanical" look does nothing but remind the viewer that they're watching an effect, and not a real "being" -- imaginary or not -- and that’s notwithstanding Keaton's mostly successful effort of building the character through his vocalizations.
While the film's intentions are good, first-time feature film director Troy Miller (best known for his short opening films featuring Billy Crystal in the recent Oscar ceremonies) simply doesn't have the experience to take up the slack left over from the otherwise anemic plot.
The story elements of the neighborhood bully and hockey match don't offer much substance and are too easily wrapped up, while the melting element similarly leads to a quick and emotionally bereft (unless you cry at greeting card messages) final farewell that closes out the proceedings.
Decent, but far from great, the film will entertain the little ones, but -- despite its concept and wintery setting—this cute and sweet-natured, but ultimately plot challenged picture simply lacks the magic that will ensure long-lasting favorableness as a holiday classic.
As far as the DVD itself, both the picture and audio look and sound good, but the supplemental materials are somewhat lacking (since the film features many snowman special effects, material focusing on them would have been a good thing to include).
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