Recidivism.

Earlier this year, Adam Rapp's Winter Passing played in 11 theaters and took in a paltry $107,492 at the domestic box office despite a cast that includes Zooey Deschanel, Will Ferrell, and Ed Harris. (And a Rachel Dratch cameo!) It was released last week on DVD and it's worth a look both for Zooey devotees and those interested in seeing Will Ferrell's best-ever film performance as Corbit, a soft-spoken, ex-Christian rocker. Will's bewildered, sotto voce deliveries somewhat recall his GWB if said character was kind, sympathetic, and could pull off an Eagles cover at an open mic. (Trust me, the President cannot do this -- I saw him try once in the late 80s at a bar in Crawford called the Armadillo's Gunnysack. Embarrassing.) The film also contains one of the year's best sight gags when Zooey cracks open the door to see Corbit and her father engaging in "tee-time".

Dismissed by many critics as being overly bleak, Jared Sapolin offers an accurate counterpoint:

"You know Zooey is in damn good hands when the first scene has a character requesting she sing. Indeed, Rapp doesn't disappoint ZD fans like me, who wouldn't have even bothered with Winter Passing if it didn't star one of the most mysterious actresses in cinema right now. Even though Rapp's a theater rat, he's artfully disguised his stagy upbringing, crafting a modest movie around Zooey's exquisite face -- a punk cupie doll lost between sly and somber -- rather than wordplay (but just to be safe he presents us with no less than two title cards declaring Winter Passing an "Adam Rapp Film," plus a third reminding us who wrote and directed it). Predictably, the same lame critics who anoint uninspired diversions like e.g. Junebug the fillet of the arthouse, complain that Winter Passing is too familiar indie territory. Well then I guess I don't watch IFC enough, because I haven't seen many films that coruscate in the twilight so effectively."

Right on. Queue it up.