The Snowy Day (rated R)

Adapted from the Caldecott Medal-winning classic, "The Snowy Day" recounts the adventures of Peter (Jamie Foxx), an African-American child living in the city on a very snowy day. Through his eyes, we see just how grand a day it is, and also, the dangers that can lurk beneath the snow.

There are mountains of snow, and lots of things to do in it (once he is properly bundled, of course.) Peter makes a snowman, snow angels, and myriad footprints; he finds the perfect stick. And he climbs a mysterious mountain of snow. Appropriate for small children through second grade, the first 15 minutes of the film present an environment transformed and cloaked in joyous and innocent mystery. Up until this point, "The Snowy Day" remains a relatively straightforward adaption of its source.

Atop Snow Mountain, Peter encounters The Snow Magician (Danny Devito, acting for his life). A slinking chord sequence brings our idyll into fraughter territory, drawing the viewer into an intricate and ceaseless dance of tension and suspense.

To prevent him from disclosing a shocking incident witnessed in the fog of Snow Mountain-- an incident best left undescribed here -- the Snow Magician grants Peter a magic talking snowball (Javier Bardem) that will kill any child that it strikes, and which confidently forecasts doom to its victims in elegant Spanish. When later that day Peter is caught in the crossfire of a fierce snowball fight, he senses that his own life may be in danger, and he is forced to use the magic snowball.

When Peter takes the snowball home to his apartment, a tense standoff ensues with his mother (a moribund Sarah Jessica Parker), and Peter is forced to use the ball again.

Peter puts the snowball in his pocket and goes to sleep. While he sleeps, the snowball sneaks out of the apartment and bludgeons his downstairs neighbor to death. After dreaming of a YMCA pool filled with skulls, Peter awakens, guilt-stricken, and is relieved to find the snowball no longer in his pocket.

Unfortunately, he finds the magic snowball sitting at the breakfast table, eating a bowl of Shredded Wheat with almond milk. Thinking to shatter the ball with the stick he'd found the previous day, he reaches for it and shudders to discover that it has transformed into a snake. The stick-snake barks at him, hissing that "the ssssnow never endssss" and to "join ussss Peter." Shaking with anger, the ball shouts insults and promises swift dispatch in less-refined Spanish.

Peter runs out of the apartment without getting dressed, realizing to his further horror that it's snowing again. The voices of his victims whisper accusations in the drifting snow. Staggering down the alley, dragging his bare feet through an un-plowed and un-shoveled urban tundra, he has become overnight a desperate fugitive. He looks constantly behind him, awaiting the last snowball he'll ever see, and seems a boy aged overnight into a frail, dying man.