Movie shows that anything can happen on a Snow

BY BRANDY BENSON

Anything can happen on a snow day...a lovesick teenager declares his affection for the girl of his dreams; a downtrodden employee defies his tyrannical employer; a 10-year-old tackles the scariest villain of her life, and plastic action dolls suddenly come to life. Or do they?

You just never know how a snow day might turn out. You might even discover you've saved the universe.

Chris Elliott, Mark Webber, Jean Smart and Chevy Chase star in Snow Day, a family comedy about possibilities, friendship, and young love. The film also stars Schuyler Fisk, Pam Grier, John Schneider, Zena Grey, Josh Peck, Jade Yorker, Connor Matheus and J. Adam Brown.

The film is directed by Chris Koch. Albie Hecht and Julia Pistor are the producers and Raymond Wagner is the executive producer. The screenplay is written by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, who also serve as co-producers with Grace Gilroy.

Snow Day is a Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies presentation. Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies are part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc.

Meet the Brandstons -- mom, dad, three kids -- a typical American family from Syracuse, NY. Little do they suspect that this snow day is going to change their lives forever. As everyone is about to find out anything can happen on a snow day.

The "anything" that Hal Brandston (Mark Webber), 15, dreams of goes by the name of Claire Bonner (Emmanuelle Chriqui). She's a vision of teen perfection who walks the earth only to torment the panting 10th graders who will never have her. Hal is one such 10th grader.

Claire doesn't even know he exists. But one day he accidentally finds her ankle bracelet and decides that it's a sign that they're meant to be together. Fate has decreed it! If only he had the nerve to talk to her without stammering.

Hal's 10-year-old sister, Natalie (Zena Grey), dreams of love as well, but hers comes in the shape of the legendary second snow day. In the annals of kid-dom, one snow day followed by another second snow day is no less miraculous than the Second Coming.

All she has to do is defeat the dreaded Snowplowman (Chris Elliott), a suburban Darth Vader in a 10-ton plow who has haunted kids' snow days for generations. Legend has it that he makes the chains for his tires from the braces of kids he's run over. For Natalie, her friends, and a superhero action figure called Meltar, it's a risk they'll have to take.

Randy Brandston, 4, the Terrible Toddler (Connor Matheus), dreams only of getting out to play...and for some reason, the grown-ups won't let him. Mom -- Laura Brandston (Jean Smart) -- is on the verge of the most important business deal of her life. Dad -- Tom Brandston (Chevy Chase), meteorologist at a third-rate weather station with fourth-rate marketing ideas -- is waging a losing battle with a boss (Pam Grier), who forces him to dress like Old Man Winter, and a rival weatherman (John Schneider) who is a local star with a dedicated following.

On the day the snow finally triumphs, Hal Brandston decides that he's been given a second chance to win the hand of the fair Claire. After all, it's a snow day. Anything can happen. No school. No rules. No excuses. Hal enlists the assistance of friends Bill Korn (J. Adam Brown) and Jane Leonard (Schuyler Fisk), quite oblivious to the latter's crush on him, and broadcasts his love for Claire over his dad's television station.

At long last he has caught Claire's attention...but he has also attracted the notice of Chuck Wheeler (David Paetkau), ex-boyfriend, Superjock and master of the "Chuck Wheeler House of Pain." Suddenly Hal becomes the target of Chuck's revenge, even as he tries to arrange a face-to-face meeting with the lady of his dreams.

Meanwhile, Natalie, disgusted by her brother's infatuation, decides to take on the sinister Snowplowman to declare her independence and ensure freedom -- and a second snow day -- for kids everywhere. But plans go awry, and before long Snowplowman is after her and her friends.

Pursued by Superjock and Snowplowman, and drawn by the twin lures of love and no school, Hal and Natalie have only two choices to surrender... or to triumph.

Snow Day, rated PG, opens Friday, Feb. 11, at theaters everywhere.