Cast: Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, Joseph Cross, Mark Addy, Henry Rollins
Director: Troy Miller
Producers: Mark Canton, Irving Azoff
Screenplay: Mark Steven Johnson and Steve Bloom & Jonathan Roberts and Jeff Cesario
Cinematography: Laszlo Kovacs
Music: Trevor Rabin
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
Jack Frost is sort of a live-action version of Frosty the Snowman with a '90s spin. In this case, the snowman isn't just a frozen popsickle friend, it's Dad, come back from the dead in a rather unusual body to get a second chance to do something he failed at the first time around - being a parent. Sadly, the tale of Frosty works a lot better as an animated short than a feature length movie with real actors. The snowman, which is the work of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, is the most glaring problem. It looks about as real as a man in a costume, and it's tough to suspend disbelief when you're trying to locate the zipper.
Jack Frost (Michael Keaton) may be a fun father, but he's never around. An aspiring rock star, he's always missing his son's hockey games. One year as a pre-Christmas present, Jack gives 12 year-old Charlie (Joseph Cross) a "magic harmonica." Supposedly, all Charlie has to do is blow into the instrument and Jack will be there. Then, on Christmas Day, Jack is killed in a car accident. His wife, Gabby (Kelly Preston), is devastated, and the blow to Charlie sends his life reeling into chaos. He stops playing with his friends, his grades plummet, and he withdraws into himself. A year later, Charlie builds a snowman, plays the harmonica, and, suddenly, Jack has returned - as a three-tiered lump of ice and snow. Now, however awkward the situation, he has a chance to right his wrongs, watch one of Charlie's hockey games, and generally make everything better.
I suppose the film might hold a degree of appeal for those desperately in search of family-suitable holiday entertainment (it's certainly a step up from the other 1998 film in that category, I'll Be Home for Christmas), but the movie doesn't do much on an emotional level, which is where it's supposed to work. The human Jack isn't around long enough for us to get to know him as a character, and the snowman never attains any semblance of multidimensionality. The relationship between Charlie and Snowman Jack is uneasy and contrived; more is necessary than simply labeling a movie as a "fantasy" for an audience to buy into the premise.
Then there's a completely superfluous chase sequence that allows the special effects/costume people to further embarrass themselves by showing how inadequate their rendition of the snowman is. Apparently, these scenes have been included to keep small children awake and involved, because they serve no other purpose. Throughout the picture, there are occasional blind stabs at comedy, only a few of which are actually funny. And, in perhaps the greatest insult of all offered by Jack Frost, we're forced to endure Hanson covering the classic Spencer Davis tune, "Gimme Some Lovin'."
The bulk of Michael Keaton's performance is vocal, and, although he has a couple of snappy one-liners, this part will not put him on the short list for a lead in the next animated Disney effort. Joseph Cross is fine as Charlie, although he's playing a familiar stereotype. Kelly Preston and Mark Addy (the large guy in The Full Monty) are both criminally underused. Their function, as Charlie's mother and a bandmate of his father's, is chiefly to react with concern when they see the boy talking to a snowman.
The intent of Jack Frost is to manufacture feelings similar to those generated by classic films like Scrooge and It's a Wonderful Life. I doubt that's going to happen for anyone in any age group. Kids might think the snowman is cool, and some adults might be mildly amused by some of what transpires, but, on the whole, Jack Frost is far too superficial to be affecting, and its facile resolution to the loss of a parent borders on insulting. This is the kind of film that will leave most viewers cold.
© 1998 James Berardinelli