Kid drama. PG. 1 hour, 36 minutes. At the AMC Highlands Ranch 2.
A sickly boy milks his illness to try to persuade his school to break a world record in “Snowmen,” a lighthearted wintry kids comedy.
Billy (Billy Kirkfield) narrates this tale about “the most amazing winter ever,” when a Jamaican (Bobb’e J. Thompson) who has never seen snow moves in next door and helps him challenge the class bully (Josh Flitter) for the spot at the top of “Kill Hill,” the snow mound behind the school.
The life-changing event for Billy comes after they find a frozen body in a snowplow pile. That makes him try to figure out a way for people to remember him. He’s sick enough to worry about that.
The kids are charming, and the supporting cast — Christopher Lloyd as a cemetery caretaker and Ray Liotta as Billy’s dad — lifts this comedy above its direct-to-video ambitions.
