Being Mum
When Susan Benson (Terri Minton - Saved by Grace) dies it left her harmonious family in complete disarray. Her husband, Dan (David Chisum - Angel in the Family), not only finds himself grieving for the loss of his wife but now has to be mum to his children as well, taking on the things his wife did which he took for granted. Meanwhile his children are also finding life without mum difficult whilst the youngest, Hallie (Rachel Eggleston - Reluctant Nanny), finds herself always getting in to mischief even when she tries to be good. But whilst she is gone Susan's words of wisdom are still there to help the family, a family who once had strong faith before her death.
Every movie is a mood movie, as in you need to be in the right mood to watch them but "Summer Snow" is even more of a mood movie than most. Here is this family/drama about a family dealing with the loss of a wife/mum who turns out was very much the anchor of the family. But for me it is a movie with a split personality which whilst delivering elements for older teens also has much lighter stuff for younger children. It is why you have to be in the right mood because if you are not in the mood for the contrast it will be hard work.
In a way "Summer Snow" is trying to cater for too many people as we have John trying to deal with doing it all, his eldest grown up daughter in need of motherly advice so that she can help someone else, his son who is trying to keep on going but is keeping his hurt to himself and then there is young Hallie whose constant good intentions lead to chaos be it phoning her dad at work when he is busy to baking cookies only to end up making herself ill. In many ways "Summer Snow" is a movie with something for everyone but some of those things won't entertain somes parts of the audience as much as it does others.
There is also a faith element to "Summer Snow" as well as the family have to find how their relationship with God now exists in their new family set up whilst dealing with the hurt of losing a loved one. For me it is nicely worked in and I am sure will be entertaining for those who seek out "Summer Snow" because they have been informed about the faith side of the movie. But at the same time I would imagine for those who are not in to faith based movies or those with a strong faith side this element will not be so easy to deal with and does at times feel a little shoe horned in.
What this all boils down to is that "Summer Snow" is an okay movie which probably works well for families trying to deal with a loss of a parent. But it is very much a movie where you have to be in the right mood to watch and if you aren't the very different tones as it tries to deliver something for everyone will make it uneven.
