YMMV / Snow Day

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Given he at one point thinks he does hit the trio with his truck and that he kidnaps and ransoms Wayne later too, is Snowplowman actually the rumored mass murderer the kids think he is?
• Awesome Music:
  • The entire soundtrack is a nice little collection of Y2K era teen pop (with a little Ska Punk from Smash Mouth and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones for good measure), especially the Breakaway Pop Hit "Another Dumb Blonde" by Hoku.
  • Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You" shows up in the movie too.
• Base-Breaking Character: Hal. He's either a likable protagonist or a creepy teenage boy who took his obsession with Claire way too far.
• Broken Base: Amongst fans of The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Some see it as a nice ending to the series even if they would've preferred one with the actual characters and actors. Others feel like the movie feels like a pale imitation of the series and wish they would've made an actual Pete and Pete movie instead.
• Cliché Storm: Every storyline in this film has been done before. Even the most original story, the Snow Plow Man one, had the same plot as an episode of The Adventures of Pete & Pete (not coincidentally, the script began life as a Pete & Pete movie). At other points, it feels like Home Alone on ice.
• Critical Dissonance: Snow Day received mostly negative reviews from critics, but audiences seemed to enjoy it. It surpassed its $13 million production budget with its opening weekend gross, and eventually earned just over $60 million in the United States.
• Cult Classic: It doesn't hit the fever pitch that Good Burger does, but there's a respectable amount of nostalgia surrounding the film from those who grew up with it, so much so that it got a musical remake in 2022.
• Designated Hero:
  • The kids as, even though the snow plow man is a jerk, they are pretty much trying to stop him for no other reason than he's doing his job, a job that would benefit many people in real life.
    • It's a little worse in the musical remake because they cut his break lines (unintentionally) and laugh about it and the only reason the kids are trying to stop the snowplow man is so Natalie doesn't have to take a test before winter break (she could just use that day to study). Also Natalie blackmails the teachers into giving her good grades.
  • Hal would also count, as he stalks Claire but is seen as being better than Chuck because...at least he's not a bully? Hal's future self as the narrator talks about his behavior in a somewhat mocking tone at points implying he at least saw how ridiculous he was later in life.
• Designated Villain:
  • Many would argue the Snow Plow Man was just doing his job, a job that is actually beneficial to many people (as they need the snow cleared from the roads so they can go to work). Obviously, the kids see the snow plow man as the villain because him doing his job would prevent them from having a few days off from school to have fun. Snowplowman though given he also kidnaps and ransoms Wayne and that the rumors about him running kids down are not necessarily proven false may not be this, but the second part is at least left more to ACI though.
  • Chad Simmons. Sure, he is a Brainless Beauty who has no clue of how weather works, but he is not a mean man (well, not meaner than Tom Brandston, the man who led Chad to reveal being said brainless beauty and thus humiliated on live television). The subplot makes it pretty clear that his and Tom's TV station are battling for ratings in a very cut-throat fashion (by children's film standards), so the real villains are the executives who signed off on Chad being the weatherman.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Claire, mostly for being played by Emmanuelle Chriqui.
• Fridge Horror: Abducting and strapping Wayne to the front of his truck and before that pretending he did nothing wrong when he nearly hits the trio very likely gives credence to the rumors that Snowplowman has really run over and murdered kids with his truck for years.
• Funny Moments: There's a reason that this movie was a box office success despite the negative reviews.
  • One of the snowballs offered to Lane one with a hole in the middle called the Moon Ball, how did it get it's name?
  The last thing he sees, is you mooning him.
  • After Tom's news report, the anchorwoman covers a story about a man who sued himself and won
  • Clairestock full stop. Hal's stalkerish obsession towards Claire? Creepy. Dozens of guys coming in droves to Claire's house with signs and gifts begging her to go out with them? Too ridiculous to not find funny.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Pam Grier plays a news producer who at one point wears a yellow coat. A decade later Nickelodeon would get the rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which has one of the most iconic news reporters known for their yellow coat.
  • Mark Webber plays a guy pursuing the girl of his dreams while having to deal with her evil ex-boyfriend, his somewhat bitter female friend who has feelings for him, and, to a lesser extent, his dream girl's disapproving friend(s). Sound familiar to another movie he was in?
• Moral Event Horizon: Snowplowman has three possibles: If he's run over kids before, he crossed there. The other two are when he almost kills the trio early on and another is when he abducts Wayne and straps him to the front of his truck.
• Nightmare Fuel: Every time the Snow Plow Man comes on screen with his truck. The kids start screaming and trying to run away from him. They even mention disturbing rumors regarding him.
• Retroactive Recognition: Stephen Stills as the main character. Emmanuelle Chriqui and Schulyer Fisk play the love interests. Wayne (Josh Peck) is Josh Nichols. Natalie is Zena Grey, who was Peck's co-star in Max Keeble's Big Move.
• So Okay, It's Average: To most people this (and its musical remake) is just another kids movie and nothing more.
• Spiritual Licensee: It was originally written as a film adaptation of The Adventures of Pete & Pete, and it shows.
• Squick:
  • Hal sniffing Claire's bracelet after finding it at the bottom of a swimming pool can come off as creepy to some; he takes it one step further and even tries it on as an anklet later! Someone even made a comment about how creepy it was on Twitter and Mark Webber, the actor who played Hal, liked the tweet! (However, he doesn't find the movie to be an Old Shame, as he's mentioned that he likes it on Twitter).
  • Iggy Pop had to stick his hand in a toilet for a scene. He was so repulsed that he quit acting for a while.
  • Roger The Snow Plow Man's dipping and eating French Fries off of Wayne's ketchup-dipped body in the middle of a snow-covered road. UGGGH!
• Strawman Has a Point:
  • One of Claire's snobby popular girl friends points out that it is rather ridiculous for Claire to be dating Hal when she doesn't even know him.
  • Snow Plow Man has a homicidal hatred towards kids, but it is his job to plow the snow even if they don't get another snow day from it.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: While the movie received mostly negative reviews, Schuyler Fisk and Mark Webber were singled out for praise in some reviews, even for some reviewers that otherwise disliked the movie or just found it to be average.
• Unintentional Period Piece: There is A LOT of late 90's-early 2000's-era bubblegum pop music in this movie. Not only that but it has two Smash Mouth songs and "There She Goes" by Sixpence None the Richer.

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