Review - Snow Day (2000)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and since it's still Winter time, I'm taking a look at the Paramount/Nickelodeon comedy from the year 2000: Snow Day. Directed by Chris Koch and written by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, Snow Day stars Mark Webber, Zena Grey, Josh Peck, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Schuyler Fisk, Jean Smart, Chris Elliott, and Chevy Chase. 

        The movie is set in the town of Syracuse, New York, which is going through the warmest winter on record. That is, until an overnight snowfall descends, meaning that all of the schools are closed for a Snow Day. And, this is where the movie diverges into four separate stories involving the members of the Brandston family: parents Tom and Laura, and kids Hal, Natalie, and Randy. 

        Laura is looking to leave for work, but finds herself snowed in, forcing her to stay at home with her youngest son, Randy. And, while she attempts to work remotely from home, Randy continues to distract her, eventually leading to her giving up on work and having fun in the snow with Randy. Tom, meanwhile, is at his job as a weatherman, but is constantly shown up by rival weatherman Chad Symmonz, who is later revealed to be a plagiarist, as Tom was the one to predict the overnight snowstorm, and Chad stole the credit. And, once Chad's dishonest nature is revealed, the people turn against him, and Tom is the top weatherman in Syracuse once more, much to the delight of both himself and his station manager Tina, played by Pam Grier. 

        Now, I covered these two stories first, because these are the two stories mostly intended for adults, such as the parents of the kids who wanted to see this movie when it came out. And, because they are the least interesting part of the movie, aside from seeing Chevy Chase as Tom go through many trials to become the best weatherman in Syracuse once more, which was hilarious because it's Chevy Chase. The next two stories definitely were more for the younger crowd: one for teens, the other for kids. Let's dig into them one at a time, starting with Hal's story in this movie.

       So, Hal takes this particular Snow Day as his opportunity to get the attention of the popular girl of his class, Claire Bonner, whose favorite pastime is diving. Hal's efforts to gain the affection of Claire, who has called off her relationship with her jackass boyfriend Chuck Wheeler, is much to the chagrin of Hal's best friend Lane Leonard, who harbors feelings for Hal, even to the point where Lane kisses Hal. While chatting at the school pool, and sharing a kiss with Claire, Hal finally realizes truth, and gives up his pursuit of Claire in order to start a proper relationship with Lane instead. Oh, and Chuck, being the jackass that he is, tries to kill Hal on multiple occasions. Yeah. 

         Honestly, this whole love rectangle between Hal, Claire, Lane, and Chuck was kind of funny, but also more meant for teenagers watching the movie. And, admittedly, it was neat seeing Hal go through all of these ludicrous trials over one girl, only to realize that the one he's meant to be with is not the one he's pursuing. And, I find it most humorous how other guys, not just Hal and Chuck, are hopelessly pursuing Claire, who isn't really interested. And, I will admit that the snowmobile chase between Hal and Chuck was pretty rad. 

       Finally, we have Natalie's story, wherein she is enjoying the Snow Day with her friends Wayne and Chet, and their efforts to finally thwart the archenemy of all kids on a Snow Day: the Snowplow Man. This particular Snowplow Man is named Roger Stubblefield, and is a thoroughly disgusting individual whose only companion is a pet bird named Trudy. Natalie, along with Chet and Wayne, decide to pull a number of pranks on Roger to put a stop to his plowing snow, all so the kids can have another Snow Day. The first attempt, which sees Natalie and Chet nab Trudy, doesn't go as planned, as Roger nabs Wayne and forces a trade: the bird for Wayne. But, by the end of the day, Natalie gathers all the kids in town for a final stand-off against Roger, chasing him off and undoing his work by driving his plow backwards, this securing another Snow Day. I would like to admit that that's not how that kind of thing works, but it's a kids movie, so I'll let it slide. 

         So, at the end of the day, Tom got his wish of finally being a serious weatherman, Laura re-learned to be a fun mom, Hal finally ended up with the right girl, and Natalie defeated the enemy of every kid on a Snow Day. And, Hal promises Natalie that he'll spend the whole day with her for the next Snow Day. Also, there's a bit of a running gag in the movie where the school principal, Principal Weaver, gets pelted by snowballs, which is pretty funny. 

        Okay, so for all the various plotlines going on throughout the movie, some of which tend to intersect at points, Snow Day is easily the perfect late '90s/early 2000s family comedy, especially coming from Nickelodeon. It has stuff for kids, teens, and parents alike, which is why there are four different plotlines that the movie follows. Now, while critics at the time probably would have wanted the movie to focus on one of the plotlines, specifically the teen romance plot involving Hal, Lane, and Claire, I think that the kids who grew up with this movie have a lot more fun with looking back at it years later. 

       The performances were easily a ton of fun, with both Chevy Chase and Jean Smart doing a great job as Tom and Laura, Mark Webber being a genuine standout as Hal, and Zena Grey having a ton of fun as Natalie, and also seeing Josh Peck and Jade Yorker as Wayne and Chet was fun. Jeez, after seeing all the stuff Josh went through in this movie, it's hard to believe that he'd go on to much more serious fare like Oppenheimer as an adult, man. And, both Emmanuelle Chriqui and Schuyler Fisk were enjoyable as Claire and Lane, respectively. But, the one character everyone remembers is Chris Elliott as Roger the Snowplow Man. Elliott just relishes in playing this mean, disgusting snowplow driver who is hated by kids all over town. Also, Iggy Pop has a cameo as a ice rink DJ who only plays slow songs instead of fun ones. 

        Speaking of which, the soundtrack of this movie is pretty typical of the time period, with such artists as Smash Mouth, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sixpence None the Richer, 98 Degrees, Boyzone, and so forth. Also, the song "Another Dumb Blonde" by Hoku was famously featured in this movie, and is her most notable single before she took a hiatus from music to reinvent her image. But, for me, I enjoyed hearing both "Satellite" and "Come On Come On" by Smash Mouth in this movie, as my favorite Smash Mouth album is the album Astro Lounge. 

         All in all, Snow Day is just good fun for kids of all ages. It's definitely a product of the late '90s/early '00s, and is a fun time capsule for that era of filmmaking for kids, especially for kids watching Nickelodeon. So, I'm giving Snow Day a rating of 4/5. Now, I do need to mention that, for some reason, Paramount and Nickelodeon made a musical remake of Snow Day for Paramount+, which would Star Jerry Trainor as Snowplow Man. And, it's not worth it, it just isn't the same. 

        Anyway guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time with my review of Yu-Gi-Oh.