JACK FROST

Fluffy as powder snow and about as deep as a light dusting of the white stuff, JACK FROST is yet another weak outing by Michael Keaton in a modern, live action retelling of “Frosty the Snowman.” With an impressive creation by Henson studios in crafting the leading man, this attractive, moral-cliched movie is severely flawed by MEET JOE BLACK disease, the soul of a dead man possessing inanimate material, in this case snow.

In the flesh and fully intact, Keaton stars as Jack Frost, a Colorado-based blues musician who has worked years without getting a big break. Spending days and nights away from his wife Gabby, played by Kelly Preston, and his eleven-year-old son Charlie, played by Joseph Cross, Jack’s passion to be a success has come at a price. Jack misses Charlie’s hockey game and promises to take him and Gabby up to their mountain retreat home for Christmas. However, on Christmas eve, he gets a call from a record producer who wants to meet him on Christmas day (who could be so cold!). Jack must once again break a promise to his son and packs up the band and heads to Denver to meet the producer. Halfway there, Jack decides to skip the audition to spend the holidays with his family, but, when Jack’s car skids off the road, he is killed before he has a chance to make it back home.

The following year, as Christmas approaches, Charlie builds a snowman that he tops off with his dad’s old hat, scarf and gloves. Before he falls asleep that night, Charlie takes out an old harmonica his dad once gave him, a harmonica his father called “magic” and blows a soulful tune on it. Jack once stated, “Whenever you play this, no matter where I am, I can hear it.” That night, Jack Frost comes back to earth as the snowman built by his son Charlie. Remaining intact after a snowplow picks him up and facing an usually warm Christmas, Jack is able to impart some lessons to his son, which he missed during his time on earth as a human.

In JACK FROST, audience members learn to respect their mother, follow their dreams, love one another, don’t give up, and make friends with their enemies. Its morality, pacing and production value is very much like an AIR BUD or a MIGHTY DUCKS movie. All perform suitably for the snowflake light script, and inside jokes are told with the casting of several musician/actors including Henry Rollins and Dweezil Zappa, son of the late anti-Christian composer, Frank Zappa.

Although Jack is kind, fun and skilled as a snowman (he can really whip snowballs and slide around on the snow), parents must be aware of the occult premise in which he exists. Not only does magic bring him back, but also here he is, a deceased soul animating lifeless material. The song, “Frosty the Snowman” remains a little less dangerous, because it doesn’t explicitly state where “Frosty” gets his life. He may even simply be a soulless, walking, talking heap of snow, but here, Jack Frost returns from the afterlife, after a whole year passes, to be with his son. In the end, he momentarily resumes the image of his human self, for the benefit of Gabby, and then vanishes again, claiming he’ll be back again some day. If parents choose to attend this otherwise family friendly movie, then serious discussion will certainly be required.

For all its positive points, JACK FROST remains merely a piece of Christmas confection. Thus, JACK FROST nips at your better judgement.