Jack Frost (1998)

 

Jack Frost - 1998

Coming up next is 1998's "Jack Frost", a film that sees a man return from the dead as a snowman to help his son through his loss and subsequent depression.

The film's cast includes Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, Joseph Cross, Mark Addy, Andrew Lawrence, Taylor Handley, Mika Boorem, and Pat Crawford Brown.

In the town of Medford, Colorado, Charlie Frost heads home after a pretty successful day.  He's just defeated the school bully, Rory Buck, in a snowball fight.

At home, Charlie is thrilled to see his musician dad, Jack, who has just returned home from a concert.  The two build a snowman before bed.

Jack gives Charlie one of his harmonicas as a gift.  Jack tells his son that whenever he plays it, he will hear it.  That gift comes to have special meaning for Charlie.  A couple of days later, Jack is killed in a car accident on a snowy road.

One year later, Charlie is struggling with his emotions.  Still grieving, Charlie has withdrawn from his friends and is now dealing with depression.

Neither his father's best friend, Mac, nor his mother, Gabby, can help him, though each try and make sure that Charlie is alright.

One night, watched by his dog Chester, Charlie builds a snowman just like he and Jack built.  He uses the same scarf and Jack's hat to provide the finishing touches.

Before going to bed that night, Charlie blows on the harmonica that Jack gave him the year before.  After blowing on it, Charlie goes to sleep.

However, the harmonica awakens some sort of magic which causes Jack's spirit to come into the snowman outside.  Jack is shocked at being back home, and he's even more shocked when he realizes he's a snowman.  Chester takes no notice and uses him as a fire hydrant.

Initially, Charlie is skeptical of Jack's newfound form.  He threatens to melt him with a hair dryer, but eventually Charlie comes to accept Jack as a snowman.

They spend a lot of bonding time together.  Jack even helps Charlie in a snowball fight against school bully Rory Buck.  As he's hurling snowballs, Jack exclaims, "Three balls, two sticks, one corked nose.  Snowman?  No.  Much, much more.  I am the Wizard of Blizzard!"

When Charlie starts carting Jack around town, his sanity is questioned by his mother and his school friends.

Warmer weather eventually causes Jack to begin to melt.  Charlie needs to get him somewhere cold.  So, after enlisting the help of former archrival Rory, Charlie gets Jack onto a truck bound for the mountains.  "A snow dad is better than no dad," says Rory.

After getting to a cabin that they used to go to as a family, Jack calls Gabby and tells her where Charlie is.  Gabby is shocked to hear Jack's voice and hurries to get to the cabin.

When Charlie's had a good rest, Jack tells him that it's time to let him go.  Father and son hug it out and Charlie prepares to say goodbye.

When Gabby arrives, she sees the living snowman and apologizes to Charlie for not believing him.  Then she turns to Jack.

By this time, Jack has turned from a snowman back into a vision of his former self.  They say their final goodbyes before Jack disappears.  As a flurry of snow drifts over the mountains, Jack's voice tells them, "I will always hear you."

Cast rundown:

   Michael Keaton...............................Jack Frost

   Kelly Preston..................................Gabby Frost

   Joseph Cross..................................Charlie Frost

   Mark Addy......................................Mac MacArthur

   Andrew Lawrence............................Tuck Gronic

   Taylor Handley................................Rory Buck

   Mika Boorem..................................Natalie

   Pat Crawford Brown.........................Scorekeeper

And that's all for Jack Frost.  Originally, George Clooney was supposed to play Jack Frost.  The snowman puppeteers had designed the snowman puppet to Clooney's exact specifications and had to start all over again when he left the project.  Jake Lloyd was originally considered for the role of Charlie, and Renee Zellweger was considered for the role of Gabby.

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View From The Top (2003)

View From The Top - 2003

Coming up next we have 2003's "View From The Top", a story about a girl from a small town in Nevada who dreams of making it big by flying the friendly skies.

The film's cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Mark Ruffalo, Candice Bergen, Joshua Malina, Kelly Preston, Rob Lowe, Mike Myers, Jessica Capshaw, George Kennedy, Marc Blucas, Jon Polito, and Nadia Dajani.

Donna is a young lady from Silver Springs, Nevada, who has just been dumped by her boyfriend for another girl.  Feeling alone and depressed with no direction in her life, she goes to a local bar.

There she sees a news interview with Sally Weston, the world's most famous flight attendant and motivational speaker.  Sally's story encourages Donna to take a leap of faith and try something new: becoming a flight attendant.

Donna applies to regional carrier Sierra Airlines, a pretty low-class commuter airline.  Their motto is "Big Hair, Short Skirts, and Service with a Smile".  She's accepted into their ranks.

She gets paired with senior flight attendant Sherry, who shows Donna the ropes of the job.  (Check out the gross carpet on the walls of the plane!  Yuk!)

Donna does a pretty bad job on her first flight.  But the co-pilot is there to give her a pep talk.  "You're a pro.  You're going places," he tells her.  "Ya think?" asks Donna doubtfully.  "I'm a pilot.  It's my job to know where people are going," says the co-pilot reassuringly.

Donna eventually takes to the job.  She does so well they even give her a trainee of her very own, Christine.

Donna, Christine, and Sherry spend a lot of time together when they aren't flying.  "There wasn’t a lot to do on weekends.  But there was always tanning at Lake Havasu," says Donna.

It's here that Donna meets the man who will become her boyfriend, an aspiring lawyer named Ted.

Christine and Donna decide to apply to a bigger airline, Royalty Airlines.  They are accepted and taken to a training school.

Donna is super excited to find out that her idol Sally Weston is a mentor in the program.  They are all invited to Sally's house for dinner and a chat.

Sally gives Donna a private talk.  She tells her that her goal as a flight attendant should be one thing: "Paris, First Class, International".  Donna takes Sally's words to heart and applies herself wholeheartedly to the course.

When the time comes to take the final exam, Donna answers each question with ease and confidently turns in her test.

Strangely, Donna is shocked to learn that she scored very low, and as a consequence, she must work on the company's regional carrier Royalty Express in Cleveland.  She is less than thrilled about that prospect.  Christine, however, gets transferred to a glamorous New York flight attendant job.

After she feels there has been a mistake made, Donna goes to Sally and asks her to look into the matter.  They find out that Christine switched tests with Donna.  Christine has also been stealing from the airline repeatedly, for which she may instantly be fired.

Donna gets the chance to re-take her test.  She passes with flying colors and is rewarded with her dream job: "Paris, First Class, International."  Leaving her boyfriend Ted behind, she bases herself in New York.

Once she gets to Paris, Donna wastes no time in enjoying what the city has to offer.  However, she can't help but feeling a little empty inside.  She misses Ted.

During a Christmas flight, Donna runs into Sally, who is traveling.  Sally senses Donna's unhappiness, and advises her to leave this job behind and be with the man she loves.

Sally arranges to take Donna's place on the flight.  As they arrive in New York, Sally's voice rings out over the intercom: "Welcome to New York, where the local time is 7:13am.  I’d like to personally thank you for flying with us today, and to remind you that the last one off the plane has to clean it."

Donna rushes to Cleveland to find Ted.  They patch up their relationship after he overhears a speech she gives to his deaf grandmother.

Donna then finds a job that will allow her to remain based in Cleveland: a pilot.  "Sally had said that life is a series of arrivals and departures, but I learned there is more than one way to spread your wings," says Donna with a smile.

Cast rundown:

   Gwyneth Paltrow..............................Donna Jensen

   Christina Applegate...........................Christine Montgomery

   Mark Ruffalo....................................Ted Stewart

   Candice Bergen................................Sally Weston

   Joshua Malina...................................Randy Jones

   Kelly Preston....................................Sherry

   Rob Lowe.........................................Co-Pilot Steve Bench

   Mike Myers.......................................Steve Witney

   Jessica Capshaw................................Flight Attendant

   George Kennedy................................Passenger

   Marc Blucas......................................Tommy Boulay

   Jon Polito..........................................Roy Roby

   Nadia Dajani.....................................Paige

And that's all for View From The Top.  Filming for this movie was completed in 2001.  However, the events of 9/11 caused the release of the film to be pushed back to 2003, as it was considered inappropriate for a comedy about flight crews.

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