Jack Frost Parent Guide

This script must have been born over a two-martini lunch that sounded something like this…

“First, make the setting Christmas in Colorado. Lots of snow, both real and fake. Now we add a family, a son named Charlie (Joseph Cross), Gabby (Kelly Preston) an attractive mother, and finally good ‘ol dad. We’ll name him Jack Frost (Michael Keaton), a hard working musician who’s waiting for his first big recording contract. Meanwhile his family is convinced he doesn’t love them because he’s always late for dinner and doesn’t take them to the cabin often enough.

“But let me cut to the chase… Dad can’t even say “No” to working on Christmas Day, so we’ll have him ending up dead in a car accident. Nothing sadder than a guilty Dad taken at Christmas! He’s feeling so bad that a year later, in an attempt to spend more time with his son, he manages to possess the snowman on the front lawn with his spirit! Boy, is Charlie surprised when ‘ol Frosty begins teaching him cool hockey moves while apologizing for not being a better dad…

At this point you’re thinking a possessed snowman sounds like the horror film of the same name from a few years earlier. But somehow Jack Frost became reality and made an amazing 34 million last Christmas. Aimed squarely at children, the movie does what all new Christmas movies do: Brings mystical ideas to the screen and conveniently ignores any religious connotations that might be associated with Christmas. A few rude remarks dealing with anatomical differences between snowmen and men, one profanity, and a reckless snowboarding sequence should keep teens partially awake.

But this film does offer a little charm. Jack never appeared to be as bad a father as what the script told us in the first place, and he certainly goes the extra mile to patch things up in the end by realizing that Charlie, more than his music, was his legacy. But its always hard to take a talking snowman seriously… unless you’ve had at least two martinis.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.