''Snowmen'' is an independent family

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by Robert Kirbyson and produced by John Shepherd and Stephen McEveety. It was released at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

on May 1, 2010.Faces of the Festival: Robert Kirbyson by McCracken, Kristi
Faces of the Festival
10-04-03. Accesses 2011-02-17

Plot

Billy Kirkland (

Bobby Coleman Robert Moorhouse Coleman III (born May 5, 1997) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as a child actor in the films '' Martian Child'' (2007), as the title character, and '' The Last Song'' (2010). Life and career Robert Coleman ...

), is a 10-year-old boy with cancer who is convinced that he has only weeks to live. He has two misfit best friends, Lucas Lamb ( Christian Martyn) and Howard Garvey (

Bobb'e J. Thompson Bobb'e Jacques Thompson (born February 28, 1996) is an American actor, rapper and comedian. Career Thompson is known for playing Tracy Jr. on ''30 Rock''; his role as child trickster Stanley on ''That's So Raven'' and its first spin-off ''Cor ...

) who he attends school with. Wanting to be remembered, Billy and his friends try to pursue fame but face a series of schemes which stand in their way, including their neighborhood bullies. Billy and his friends decide to try to create the most snowmen built in the world in one day. Their first attempt fails miserably because they don't have enough people. They begin a campaign to get more people to help by hanging out flyers and placing posters up around their school, in which Billy gives a speech in the cafeteria, which brings attention. They eventually appeal to the Mayor too, which brings their Principal on board and go to the news channel to get it broadcast. Both the Mayor and the news channel agree to meet them on the day on the event. The first part of the day goes well, and they build a lot of snowmen, but they begin to melt by the time the Mayor gets there with the news channel. Billy gets him to agree to delay the final count to give them more time to solve the problem, with Billy giving a small broadcast. But when they get back, their bully Jason Bound had knocked over loads of the snowmen, and corner Billy and his friends. The rest of the school then defends Billy in a snow fight. The day ends when Jason knocks Lucas over and hurts him. Billy's father, Reggie Kirkland arrives, having seen Billy on television, and tells the Mayor and everyone Billy is not dying like he thought he was. The event is canceled, upsetting Billy and his friends. When their spirits get uplifted by the caretaker, the friends talk in a nearby park. Jason soon finds them and begins to push them around. When they push back, the chunk of ice Billy was standing on breaks and falls in the water. The chunk of ice then fills the gap again, trapping Billy under the ice. Howard goes to get help, while Lucas tries to free Billy. Realising he went too far, Jason helps. Lucas manages to break the ice but falls in when he tries to get Billy out. Both boys fall unconscious while Jason tries to grab Lucas using a hockey stick. He eventually rescues both boys and tries to carry them to get help. Howard then comes back with his father and Billy's father, who take them to a hospital, where they are both saved. While they recover in the hospital, they see on the news that efforts to build the snowmen have been renewed, and students from other schools have come to help. The boys later join them and break the record while discovering that the only lasting legacy is friendship.

Cast

: Billy Kirkfield *

: Howard Garvey * Christian Martyn: Lucas Lamb *

Josh Flitter Joshua Alexander Flitter (born August 25, 1994) is an American actor. He is known for playing Corky in ''Nancy Drew'', Eddie in ''The Greatest Game Ever Played'', and voiced Rudy Kangaroo in the 2008 animated film ''Horton Hears a Who!'' and Budd ...

: Jason Bound *

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primeti ...

: Reggie Kirkfield * Doug E. Doug: Leonard Garvey *

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...

: The Caretaker *

Beverley Mitchell Beverley Ann Mitchell is an American actress and country music singer. She portrayed Lucy Camden on the television series '' 7th Heaven''. Early life After graduating from Chaminade College Preparatory School in 1999, Mitchell enrolled at Loy ...

: Mrs. Sherbrook * Susanne Sutchy: Elaine Kirkfield *

Geoff Hansen Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the ...

: The Mayor * Jennifer Klekas: Fiona the Reporter

Reception

The film received mainly positive to mixed reviews. The Hollywood Reporter thought the film "might prove a bit too offbeat for mainstream theatrical success, though it might well prove popular on DVD and cable." ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

'' thought the film was excellent, saying “SNOWMEN is funny, engaging, thought-provoking, meaningful, and one of the best family movies I’ve seen in a long time.”

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Snowmen 2010 films 2010s children's films 2010 comedy-drama films 2010s coming-of-age comedy-drama films American children's films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films Films about father–son relationships Films about school bullying Films about friendship Films scored by John Debney Films shot in Utah 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Films about snowmen