Impressive for the mood it creates, the film may not totally satisfy, but the characters are richly depicted and reflect the snowy winter chill that surrounds them
Snow Angels (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:106
Fresh:71
Rotten:35
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: With fine acting and considerable emotional depth, Snow Angels aptly captures the highs, and especially the lows of human relationships.
Synopsis: Director David Gordon Green (GEORGE WASHINGTON) adds another carefully sculpted drama to his resume with SNOW ANGELS. Green deposits a strong cast in a snowbound Pennsylvania town for his fourth... Director David Gordon Green (GEORGE WASHINGTON) adds another carefully sculpted drama to his resume with SNOW ANGELS. Green deposits a strong cast in a snowbound Pennsylvania town for his fourth full-length feature, which revolves around the troubled teenage life of young Arthur (Michael Angarano). Arthur divides his time between working at a Chinese restaurant and dealing with the break up of his parents. His endearing lack of self-confidence is tempered when new-girl-in-town Lila (Olivia Thirlby) shows a romantic interest in him. Meanwhile, Arthur's co-worker and former babysitter, Annie (Kate Beckinsale), is trying to raise her child alone after the failure of her marriage to the unhinged Glenn (Sam Rockwell). Annie also embarks on an unwise affair with Nate (Nicky Katt), who happens to be married to her best friend. Green's central characters try to make the best of their modest lives until a major incident, dropped halfway through the movie, raises the tension between Annie and Glenn to breaking point. Beckinsale, Rockwell, and Angarano all deliver consummate performances, and they are joined by a strong supporting cast that includes Griffin Dunne and a rare straight role for comedian Amy Sedaris. Green's style, so often compared to that of Terrence Malick, takes a slightly different turn here as the director delivers a relatively straightforward thriller. But the change suits him, and SNOW ANGELS contains enough edge-of-your-seat tension to keep audiences curious as to where the director is going to take them. [More]
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Angarano, Jeannetta Arnette
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Angarano, Jeannetta Arnette, Griffin Dunne, Nicky Katt, Tom Noonan, Amy Sedaris, Olivia Thirlby
Director: David Gordon Green
Director: David Gordon Green
Screenwriter: David Gordon Green
Producer: Lisa Muskat, Dan Lindau, Cami Taylor, Paul Miller
Composer: David Wingo, Jeff McIlwain
Studio: Warner Independent
Reviews for Snow Angels
Frequently perched between the poetic and the twee, Green has been bitten by the Whimsy Bug
So when the film's moment of horror arrives, it's not with suspense but instead the sort of dully anticipatory inevitability that drains as much energy from the story as from the audience.
Hopefully, one of these days, Green will be bold enough to make a movie where nothing happens, where conversation is both his means and his end.
Green is a director who takes his time with characters, allowing their different sides to self-illustrate in naturalistic settings as he simultaneously paints their worlds.
Powerful performances all around, but too many tangled and twisted family trees. Scorecard, please.
Rockwell, who brought a sense of desperate unease to his roles in 'The Assassination of Jesse James' and 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,' does the same here, with results that are at once frightening and pathetically sad.
Every so often, a movie comes along that knocks the wind out of you. Snow Angels is one of them.
...the film's positive attributes were for me not quite enough to make up for the movie's unrelentingly grim tone.
It feels sort of like a poor man's version of American Beauty, stripped of all the good parts and devoted only to a low-budget wallowing in misery that will leave you shell-shocked and depressed on your way out of the theater.
It's a hard movie to sit through at times, but if you're a fan of the actors, especially Rockwell, I believe you will find it a rewarding experience.
'We love you no matter what your job is,' a character tells her son. That's a love that this very humanistic if dark film asks us to extend to everybody, even those whose sins invite outrage and disgust.
For all its noble intentions and universal truths, Snow Angels is not a great movie. It's not a grand movie. It's barely a very good movie.
There's a certain beauty in the bleakness, in the stark, snowy landscapes, and in the characters whose lives are just as barren.
Latest News for Snow Angels
September 22, 2008:
Powerful performances all around, but too many tangled and twisted family trees. Scorecard, please. ![]()
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July 17, 2008:
David Gordon Green: From Indie Auteur to Pineapple Express ![]()
David Gordon Green might seem like an unusual choice to direct Pineapple Express, but as it turns out, the man behind the camera for Snow Angels and All the Real Girls was a... More...
March 16, 2008:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Horton Hears Cash Registers Ring at Box Office
North American film fans heard the call of the elephant and stampeded to the box office to see the animated Dr. Seuss pic Horton Hears a Who, which enjoyed the largest opening... More...
March 14, 2008:
Powerful performances all around, but too many tangled and twisted family trees. Scorecard, please. ![]()
More...
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