Winter Passing is as gloomy and sad as movies come these days. Like a collision between Proof and A Love Song for Bobby Long, it relays the story of a young woman who finds herself trying to fix the broken spirits of her once-brilliant but now boozy writer father. But while some films lose themselves in maintaining the biggest bummer atmosphere they can, Winter Passing always keeps an eye on its characters, ensuring that the viewer's emotional investment in their fates is well worth the depressing journey their respective arcs take.

Zooey Deschanel, recently seen tooling through outer space in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, stars as Reese Holdin, a young woman who barely eeks out an existence as a bartender and sometimes actor. After the death of her beloved cat and a general sense of malaise that hits her hard, Reese takes up a book publisher's offer to pay her a hefty sum in exchange for a bundle of love letters written between her father, famous author-turned-recluse Don Holdin (Ed Harris), and her mother, also a popular writer. Unfortunately, getting those letters means having to go back home to Michigan to confront her dad again after having skipped her own mom's funeral.

What Reese discovers, however, is that Don now makes his home in a garage with books lining nearly every inch of the walls. Who lives in the house instead? Corbit (Will Ferrell), a hopeful musician who just showed up one day, and Shelly (Amelia Warner), a former student of Don's who's taken it upon herself to be his caretaker. All four are stuck in their own, private worlds, but once thrown together under these circumstances, an all-around awakening begins that starts to coax them all out of their respective emotional shells.

Winter Passing could have turned out to be a pretentious, self-absorbed, and self-indulgent indie. I can't tell you how many potentially excellent movies have been spoiled by filmmakers choosing to wallow in how bleak the story is rather than give it a sense of purpose or develop the characters' personalities. A few moments of Winter Passing  echo this mentality by presenting a handful of bits more concerned with being anti-mainstream without having anything of real value to contribute. But on the whole, Winter Passing stays focused, coming off as a quirky character piece about four damaged people who, very slowly but surely, learn to heal their own wounds.

Writer/director Adam Rapp crafts Winter Passing into a combination of a morality play and a quest for redemption.  Reese begins searching for her parents' letters as a means to make some money, but she finds out that she never realized how strong the loving bond was between her father and mother. All of this is done in a quiet, low-key style, similar to the approach George Clooney took with Good Night, and Good Luck, in the sense that the film purposefully rids itself of grandiose speeches or parts where people sweep things off of desks to make a dramatic statement. Winter Passing is about the lack of dialogue and unshared feelings between individuals, and Rapp's storytelling gets viewers acquainted with this world almost right off the bat.

The acting, however, results in something of a mixed bag -- an all-around decent ensemble cast plagued by a few nagging flaws here and there. Normally a supporting player, in everything from mainstream stuff like Failure To Launch to more offbeat fare like Mumford, Deschanel gets a chance to show us what she offers as a lead, and she passes with flying colors, delivering a fine, subtle performance as Reese. Will Ferrell does solid work as the extremely shy Corbit, proving  he can handle drama in addition to the goofball comedies that are his bread and butter, although I couldn't help thinking what an even more fantastic job John C. Reilly might have done with this role. Warner fares well with what surprisingly little material she has to work with as a woman who was once one of Don's devotees but now finds herself tending to his madness.

Surprisingly, Harris' performance lacks the strength his part calls for; the actor seems appropriately distant in terms of the characters -- but too out of reach to gain my complete  sympathy. Still, each performer plays a part in making the quartet an interesting bunch, blessing their parts with the occasional eccentric touch (including Corbit's random usage of eyeliner), letting you know that although these folks are going through some tough times, their lives aren't without a little humor.

Though admittedly slow-paced, Winter Passing is admirable for keeping a semi-solemn face without dragging down the story and characters in its quest to be oh-so serious.

MY RATING: *** (out of ****)

(Released by 20th Century Fox and rated "R" for language, some drug use and sexuality.)