Jack Frost (1998) Warner Bros./Comedy-Fantasy RT: 102 minutes Rated PG (mild language, thematic elements) Director: Troy Miller Screenplay: Mark Steven Johnson, Steve Bloom, Jonathan Roberts and Jeff Cesario Music: Trevor Rabin Cinematography: Laszlo Kovacs Release date: December 11, 1998 (US) Cast: Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, Joseph Cross, Mark Addy, Henry Rollins, Andrew Lawrence, Eli Marienthal, Will Rothhaar, Mika Boorem, Benjamin Brock, Taylor Handley, Joe Rokicki, Cameron Ferre, Ahmet Zappa, Dweezil Zappa. Box Office: $34.6M (US)
Rating: ***
To be clear, this is a review of the 1998 comedy-fantasy Jack Frost NOT the 1997 slasher movie of the same name. Sure, they both feature talking snowmen, but only one of them goes around killing people. Care to take a stab at which one?
I can’t say for sure what the makers of Jack Frost were thinking when they conceived the idea of a boy’s dead father coming back to life as a snowman. I’d like to think their intentions were good, but the whole thing is just so weird. It makes me wonder if the writers (four of them!) had a little help from a friend named Mary Jane. Either way, it’s a peculiar Christmas movie.
Rock band frontman Jack Frost (Keaton, Batman) is having a hard time balancing career and family. In his pursuit of success, he often neglects his family, wife Gabby (Preston, Twins) and preteen son Charlie (Cross, Wide Awake). He finally gets his shot at the big time, but it means he’ll have to cancel his plans to spend Christmas with them. He has a change of heart on his way to the gig, but fate has other plans in store for Jack. He’s killed in a car accident on his way to surprise them at their cabin in the mountains.
A year later, Charlie still grieves for his dad. He quit the hockey team and stopped hanging out with his friends. He doesn’t even care that Christmas is coming. One night, he builds a snowman in the front yard, much like the one he and his father built the year before. Later, he plays a few notes on Jack’s harmonica. Lo and behold, it’s a magic harmonica. Jack’s spirit returns from the afterlife and enters the snowman bringing it to life.
Charlie doesn’t believe it at first. He’s terrified of the walking, talking snowman. He’s eventually convinced his father has come back. He’s there to help him process his grief and move on with his life. That’s all well and good, but how is he supposed to explain this to Mom? She’s already concerned about his mental well-being having seen him talking to the snowman and dragging it through town on a sled.
I’m of the opinion that even the bad movies from back in the day are better than most of what passes for filmed entertainment these days. Jack Frost isn’t exactly a holiday classic like Miracle on 34th Street and A Christmas Story. It is, however, more enjoyable than the likes of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. It’s kind of dark which begs the question who it’s made for. It’s billed as a family movie, but is it really appropriate for small children? I know the death of a parent is not an uncommon motif in films aimed at kids (Bambi anyone?), but are they emotionally ready to think about such issues, especially around the holidays? Older ones probably won’t want to see a movie about a talking snowman because it’s too childish. It’s definitely NOT a film adults would choose to see on date night. What chance does Jack Frost have at the box office? None as it turns out. Audiences turned their noses up at it. It made only $34.6M against an $85M budget. Me, I kind of like it.
The special effects, the work of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic, aren’t what you’d call out of this world, but they’re good enough. CGI is used whenever Jack is in motion, but the rest is good old-fashioned puppetry and animatronics. The snowman itself looks like something a kid would build with its tree branch arms and Dad’s old hat. It doesn’t have legs. It’s three snowballs of decreasing sizes piled atop one another, yet it appears to walk instead of glide. It can throw snowballs like bullets from an automatic weapon and play hockey like Wayne Gretzky. It’s a pretty cool creation actually.
Keaton is one of the most versatile actors in the industry. He can do it all- outrageous comedy (Night Shift, Beetlejuice), serious drama (Clean and Sober, Spotlight), action (Jackie Brown, American Assassin), thrillers (Pacific Heights) and even Shakespeare (Much Ado About Nothing). Oh yeah, he also played Batman/Bruce Wayne in a couple of movies. He does a pretty good job in Jack Frost despite not being seen for most of his screen time.
Preston is okay as the grieving widow and concerned mother. Sadly, her character doesn’t get the development she deserves. Mark Addy (The Full Monty) is good as jack’s bandmate and best bud. He tries to be a father figure to Charlie. In that role, Cross is fine albeit unexceptional. Hardcore punk rocker Henry Rollins (The Chase) provides a bit of comic relief as the intense hockey coach who has a run-in with the snowman, one that leaves him comically traumatized. Taylor Handley (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) has some good scenes as a bully who shares something major in common with Charlie.
Directed by Troy Miller (Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd), Jack Frost has a few cool scenes like the big chase involving a gang of bullies on sleds and snowboards going after Charlie. It turns out the snowman version of his dad knows a few neat sledding tricks. I like the music as well, especially Jack’s blues-rock version of “Frosty the Snowman”. Oddly enough, Jack Frost was originally envisioned as an adaptation of Frosty, but things changed after director Sam Raimi and star George Clooney left the project. I’m not sure how that would have turned out, but I’m sure it wouldn’t have been as weird as what we got instead. Jack Frost might not be all that holly-jolly, but its snowy heart is in the right place.
