Snow Angels

The underlying novel and this film stole my planned novel! I live in Northeast Pennsylvania (the film is set in Southwest PA). I'm one of those who threaten, promise, etc., to write a book someday but probably never will. But my main idea was to write about one of the ancient defunct communities that dot the old coal and oil regions of the state.

SNOW ANGELS does a great job at depicting lives in such communities. Especially during that part of the year when the landscape is barren and suicides spike. The profound sense of hopelessness is evident in many of the characters. Those without resources fall into profound despair. Those better off look into themselves. The result is always tragic or counter-productive. Only youth sees promise, has hope, etc.

The film was far from perfect: Rockwell and Beckinsale's story line so dominates that the lives of the other characters become almost a distraction. I doubt that's what the author intended. The climax pays off in intensity but is predictable. But the acting and script are exceptional as is the pacing and mood. For those who think the film lacks plot, the simple depiction of setting and life are story enough.

I refrain from rating this one as I have a lot of mixed feelings about this film. Granted it is a very deep and sensitive foray into the trappings of human emotion and relationships, but I can't reconcile why anyone would even attempt a movie like this, especially in this day and age. Although all the technical elements remain in tact, from the impeccable direction, to the heart-rending acting performances, the depth of emotion this film challenges you achieve seems a bit parochial to me, given that all we are shown is the dark side of each situation. Isn't there enough discord we must deal with in our day-to-day lives, than having to feel our emotions tumble blindly into an abyss of despair, then having to muster up the strength to climb back up and out, just to resume our lives as usual? I can't find any redeeming qualities to this film, yet I did watch it from beginning to end. It has all the qualities of a well-made film which draws you in, but once you're in you find yourself just wanting to get out but you can't, because you have to see how it all plays out after all. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there isn't any 'entertainment value' to this film, it's almost like some extended version of a story you'd expect to find in the news today, instead of on the big screen. Hollywood, maybe it's time to get back to the basics?

Snow Angels is set in a small town in America during a non-specific time. There are few details that define or accentuate time and place. It could be any small town, USA, and for all we know, it could be the present. All we really know is that it is cold and wintertime. Directed by David Gordon Green, Snow Angels is a somber, affecting meditation on sadness and fate, based on the novel written by Stewart O'Nan. It chronicles two weeks in the life of the central characters, whose lives are all connected in some way.

The movie begins with striking images of winter, barren trees and snow. A high school marching band is rehearsing outdoors for the football game. They are lethargic and out of tune. Their instructor chides them, and we here the sound of what might be gunshots in the distance. Everything stops and the story goes back to two weeks prior, where the characters are introduced. We see Arthur (Michael Angarano) the high school student busing tables in a Chinese restaurant. He works with his older friend Annie, played by Kate Beckinsale, the newly separated mother who used to baby-sit for Michael when he was young. Annie gives Arthur a ride home when his mother forgets to pick him up. Arthur's parents, played by Jeanette Arnette and Griffin Dunne, are also going through a separation.

Later we meet Annie's estranged husband Glen, played by Sam Rockwell. Early on we learn that he has had problems with drinking and keeping a job and even tried to take his own life as a result of his life apart from Annie and the baby. Somehow, he survived the suicide and has become a born again Christian, but his stability remains uncertain. We also meet the new student Lila, played by Olivia Thirlby, who befriends Arthur. Lila is the outsider who takes photographs as a hobby. She is on the outside literally peering in, like the audience. Early on, she shows Arthur her photographs of the town. Since her family moves around a lot, she likes to take pictures of her first impressions of the new places she moves to. They are beautiful portraits, all black and white, mostly of them empty landscapes and snow. Coldness and alienation is a constant theme that wraps around the characters to a nearly suffocating extent.

Green's direction is deliberate and slowly paced. The camera rests patiently upon the characters, giving them time to grow and breathe. Even in awkward moments, as there are in the life of a teenager, and in the tension rising moments of the adults who are enduring emotional pain, the shots are long and deliberate, with a quiet, gentle soundtrack that does not try to manipulate or force the action. Green allows the dialog and the performances of the actors drive the story. There is no melodrama, just painfully sad realities.

Snow Angels has the feel of an independent film in its simple story-telling and without bloated production values or faux sentimentality or gimmicky performances. It feels like real life, real people in a real town. The only problem is that it's real, real sad. In fact, it's too sad. Despite the artful direction and nuanced performances, the film itself has little balance, nothing to contrast the heavy weight of angst that smothers the characters as well as the audience. Fargo, (1996), was a similar movie – a tragic tale of human failings, set in a vast, winter of emptiness. And yet, there were many contrasting elements which balanced the mood, such as hilarious dialog and mannerisms, a riveting, driving musical score and shocking, unexpected violence. Many aspects of that film were recognized for achievement in film-making and I believe it even received Best Picture at the Academy Awards. I would also dare say that this movie energized the careers of several of its little known actors and deservedly so, including Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy and Frances McDormand. But Snow Angels provides no such relief from its oppressive tone. I get the feeling that Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale needed an immediate retreat to a warm, tropic island after making this picture, (or at least a few sessions of therapy), and through no fault of their own. Their performances are great, but the movie, over all, leaves you with the need for immediate cleansing or escape, to anywhere that's warm.

For my short review, I'll start by saying that the movie is extremely well done by folks behind and in front of camera, but is not for the faint of heart.

But if you're easily depressed, this is not the film for you.

If you are okay with a very well done slice-of-life tragedy, you may appreciate this story.

For me, it was more than I bargained for, and is unfortunately sticking in my head.

"Snow Angels" starts off as a fairly conventional, angst-ridden indie drama about life in an American small town, but the movie turns into a profoundly moving work after an unexpected tragedy strikes the community.

Director David Gordon Green's screenplay (co-written by Stewart O'Nan) focuses on two disintegrating marriages - one belonging to Annie and Glen Marchand, and the other to Louise and Arthur Parkinson - and the effect the breakups are having on the children and extended families. The people in both groups already seem profoundly unhappy with their lives, but when an unspeakable disaster occurs, things go from bad to worse for all concerned.

"Snow Angels" features insightful writing, sensitive direction and a profound sense of place and season (it takes place in the deep, dark days of a Midwestern winter, though the film itself was filmed in Nova Scotia). It's not an easy movie to watch at times - its emotions wrenching and its characters' weaknesses all too human and recognizable – but excellent performances by Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell, Michael Angarano, Jeanetta Arnette, Deborah Allen and Griffin Dunne, among others, make it worthwhile viewing.