Snow Angels

English/107 Minutes/2007/Rated R

Snow Angels is a surprisingly positive film about a very dark subject. David Gordon Green (Undertow) directs a ensemble cast in the story of several couples as they try to work out their relationships in times of great change and unrest.

Glenn and Annie Marchand (Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale) are a couple who are separated and have a small daughter, Tara (an amazing and heartbreaking Gracie Hudson). For unspecified reasons connected to Glenn's drinking and a suicide attempt the two are estranged emotionally and physically. It doesn't help that Annie is having an affair with her friend Barb's (Amy Sedaris) husband Nate (Nicky Katt).

Louise and Don Parkinson (Jeanetta Arnette and Griffin Dunne) have a teenage son and are separating after years of marriage because Don says he isn't happy anymore. Their son, Arthur (Michael Angarano) is at the same time finding his first love in Lila (Oliva Thrilby).

Rounding out the couples are Glenn's parents, of whom we see very little but what we see speaks volumes about them. They are an elderly couple who feel like they have decided to stay in a marriage regardless of how they feel about each other. Glenn lives at home with them as he tries to straighten himself out and reconnect with Annie.

All these couples are bound together by Arthur. Annie was his babysitter when he was younger and she is still a friend of the family. He and Annie and Barb all work in a little Chinese restaurant that is run by a man who isn't Chinese (perhaps this is only appreciated by people in small towns like myself where such oddities are common). It is here that we return at the start of every act, touching base with all the characters before the film once again branches out. Green is very deft at keeping all the storylines straight and engaging and doesn't let the camera's eye exploit the subject matter even at its most sensitive.

Snow Angels is first and foremost about film about people who are stuck. They are frozen emotionally and their lives are at a standstill. Annie looks for love in Nate who is just looking for a good time. Glenn is trying to reconnect with Annie and neither are able to accept that they are not the people they once were. The only thing still tying them together is 4 year old Tara, who, like any 4 year old, is oblivious to the complexities in adult relationships (which is refreshing considering most film children act like little adults) and easily bruised emotionally.

Each of the other couples are similarly in complicated situations whether it's the end of love or the beginning. In fact it's safe to say that none of the characters in “Snow Angels” really love one another as they are so caught up in themselves that they can't see. At the same time life continues to move and only goes faster as the problems pile up. Green does an excellent job of conveying this as in many important shots characters will stop moving and continue talking while the camera continues to move, eventually leaving the characters behind.

The subtleties of the camera and composition do much to convey the story independent of the actual drama giving the proceedings all the qualities of a inexorable date with tragedy.

If there is any great flaw in the film, it is that the inevitable tragedy is rather predictable. From the opening scene we hear two gunshots, then the time is wound back “a couple of weeks” and we are left to figure out what those shots will mean. Of course by the end I saw what was coming and the tragedy that touched off the gunfire was just as obvious.

The acting on the other hand is great. Beckinsale plays Annie as a person who feels like her circumstances are beyond her control. Rockwell turns in a great performance with Green's guiding hand reeling him back so that his intensity rarely crosses the line into scenery chewing. The show is stolen by Angarano though, as young Arthur, who is discovering love and trying to deal with the self-destruction of the adults around him. We are given hope that perhaps he will not suffer the same fate.

Indeed, by the end, all of the relationships have moved on, some for better and some for worse. While the movie contains many dark and intense scenes (reminiscent of films like Affliction or The Gift) its message is ultimately hopeful, refusing to go out on the dark final note. This does effect the tone of the film as we see a few scenes of town life at the beginning that are replayed as a coda to the film. The second time through we realize that life has always been moving and nothing has changed in the character's external circumstances. Rather the people have changed and so their perceptions have changed. Thus the ending is perhaps more positive than the tragedies of the plot would seem to permit.

Highly recommended, especially for fans of other dark dramas such as Affliction or The Gift.

Reviewer's Note: there are intense scenes involving children that may be disturbing to some viewers.

Rated R for Language, Some Violent Content, Brief Sexuality and Drug Use