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Movie Review: Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story (1994)
If you are a fan of survival dramas, you have probably seen this story retold on *I Shouldn't Be Alive* or The Weather Channel’s *SOS: How to Survive*. But if you want the full 90s TV-movie melodrama, *Snowbound* is the one to watch. It stars a very young Neil Patrick Harris and Kelli Williams as a real-life couple who manage to get themselves hopelessly stranded in a brutal Nevada blizzard with their five-month-old baby.
Now, the film claims to be a "True Story," but let’s be honest—networks love to stretch the truth like old taffy for ratings. Some versions add details, some leave them out, and it gets frustrating trying to find the actual facts. But even when you stick to the bare-bones truth, the absolute highlight of this movie is watching the pure hubris and unbelievable mistakes unfold. It is a fantastic piece of drama, specifically because you cannot believe the decisions these people made.
First, there is the classic "guy who thinks he can outsmart Mother Nature" trope. Our brilliant driver decides he’s in a hurry, so he actually *takes his tire chains off* right before driving directly onto a remote, unplowed, completely buried back road. I ask the readers: do you think keeping the chains on would have made a bit of difference? Personally, I think they were doomed the second they took that turnoff. Chains are great for ice, but when you drive a standard truck into a waist-deep snowdrift, you're high-centered and stuck regardless.
Then comes the style choice. Jim apparently decided a massive winter storm in the high desert was the perfect time to sport a pair of trainers. No boots. Just sneakers. Because nothing says "I'm ready to conquer the elements" quite like frozen canvas footwear.
But the absolute pinnacle of logic defiance happens after they sit in the truck for four days. When they finally realize no one is coming and decide to walk out, do they turn around and walk back down the road they came in on—the one leading straight back to the main highway? Of course not! They decide to keep pressing *forward* into the unknown, desolate, frozen canyon abyss. It’s as if they thought, *"Well, the road behind us was impassable, so surely the wilderness ahead will just naturally lead us to a luxury resort."*
Ultimately, it is a great, tense, family-friendly watch, but let's call it what it really is: a masterclass in how to do absolutely everything wrong in a winter emergency and somehow survive your own choices. It’s well worth a watch, if only as a stark reminder to respect the weather—and maybe to pack a map and some actual boots.
