Snow Day (2022) Review: A Song Of Ice And Tires

 

As we head toward the close of 2022, the streaming world certainly looks a little different than it did at the start of the year. While some seem to be withdrawing from straight-to-streaming releases, Paramount+ certainly isn’t one of them. Their latest was quite a surprise when it was announced in March: a remake of the 2000 film Snow Day, which while by no means a masterpiece, is fondly remembered by those who were kids at the time, including yours truly. It was only Nickelodeon Movies’s third film after all. And it was where many first associated Nickelodeon legend Josh Peck. The original cast appeared on both All That and Double Dare 2000 for promotional (and competitive) purposes. Not only was it an unexpected film to remake, but it’s remade as a musical film, which is quite the swerve but hey, it just happened to Matilda too. While the original starred Chevy Chase, Jean Smart, John Schneider, and Chris Elliott in the adult roles, this remake has Laura Bell Bundy, Rob Huebel, and Jerry Trainor, and fun newcomers in the kid roles. This remake was released on Paramount+ on December 16 and had a same-day Nickelodeon premiere that evening.

The movie starts with the narrator describing the latest snowstorm before Natalie (played by Michaela Russell) heaps the praises and the wonder of a snow day. The title song is sung in celebration of a previous snow day exactly a year before, which only serves to set a goal of repeating history. This time, Hal (played by Ky Baldwin) pursues his crush Claire Bonner in such ways as subbing for the winter dance recital’s spotlight operator so he could stare at her from afar. Admire her short neck in such a manner it impedes his job. His confidence outside of school is pointedly apparent to him, his sister, and his friend Lane. Natalie also has quite the dynamic with the teachers, even when her relationship with work and tests is very adversarial. She intimidates them enough they need a support group to even cope.

And that's actually about the extent that the school staff appears in the film. There's no pelting the principal with snowballs in this one. The snow day doesn’t even arrive until after the movie’s first third. And most of all, the weatherman rivalry subplot is nonexistent, so the parents, especially Huebel as the dad, thus have nowhere near the focus as in the original film, with them both now in the same subplot of having to entertain the youngest sibling for him to achieve his perfect snow day. If it weren’t for that, they would’ve been afterthoughts, and even once they get outside there probably could have been some way they were utilized better. Whether the musical numbers and 12-minutes shorter runtime also contributed to such is unknown. As for the rest of the music, there’s such as Claire and Chuck singing about how easy it was to fall in love, done in an ice cream shop, which was an interesting locale, especially for a movie set in 2022. However, it is quickly established how flimsy a foundation their relationship stands on and makes for a wider opening for Hal to slip in on should he take it. He and Lane each get songs about their feelings about their crushes. In the original, Claire and Chuck were broken up already. Trainor as the Snowplow Man even gets a villain song, loving everything about his life but the neighborhood’s kids. Much more composed than Elliott for that reason, but he still brings the nuttiness that made him such a great casting choice. However, he and Natalie don’t have a pre-existing rivalry like they do in the original.

The Snow Day remake feels simpler, and safer, with slightly lower stakes. For example Trudy the crow is now a robotic AI, so it's a less even prisoner exchange this time when Snowplow Man takes Wayne. There's also less of a grand feeling, at least as far as memory serves, even for the film’s grand gesture. However, of what is retained in this plot, it is very faithful, so a viewer who had recently seen the original might be feeling that deja vu. It sometimes forgets it’s a musical but gets that finale number in. The performances by the younger actors are pretty good and probably make the film worth checking out.