Review of Snow Angels (2007) by Nick A — 15 Aug 2010

David Gordon Green's "Snow Angels" is a film that amalgamates the structure and familial insecurity of Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm" and the post-tragedy management of Atom Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter". The result, still, is only a portioned makeup of the picture's totality. The rest is any combination of bleak, startling, powerful, and sweet; and Green treats his audience no more kindly than his film treats its characters. "Angels", a screen adaptation of Stewart O'Nan's acclaimed '94 novel, is ultimately an assertive melodrama kindled into a blistering tale of calamity, the product of an uncompromising director bent on affecting hardened America. And he does so, deeply and gravely.

Arthur (Michael Angarano) is a high school student and member of the school's marching band. When he's not at band practice or in class, he's bussing tables at a local Chinese restaurant, practicing an instrument in the school auditorium until the waning hours of the night, or sharing awkward moments with the new girl in school, Lila (Olivia Thirlby). To shorten the allegory, Arthur doesn't like home. And he's not wrong, either: his parents are going through a nasty separation and he's enduring the burden. But that's not all. Meanwhile, Annie (Kate Beckinsale), whom Arthur works with and used to be babysat by, is suffering relationship problems of her own-she refuses to see her husband, Glenn (Sam Rockwell), who has recently survived alcoholism and a suicide attempt, and doesn't like the idea of him spending time with their young daughter. To make matters worse, and eventually set in motion the dire events to follow, Annie is "seeing" her best friend Barb's (Amy Sedaris) husband -- and Glenn finds out.

Indeed, "Angels" meets terrible circumstances. In fact, what occurs is more severe than that which "terrible" implies. But, as he did for "George Washington" and "Undertow", Green exemplifies the beauty to come of such dreadful lives (albeit, the aforementioned works don't compare to this feature in terms of weight), through both the physical landscape (shot impeccably by Tim Orr -- again) and the magical, stabilizing chemistry of Arthur and Lila. Honestly, the most remarkable, resonant aspect of this movie is the companionship Arthur and Lila build -- remarkable because, even after everyone around him crumbles due to his or her relationship, Arthur is sensitive to and hopeful of the friendship he and Lila find together; and resonant because David Gordon Green nails teen love as flawlessly as any film since "Say Anything" (Green's "All the Real Girls" supremely captures the heart of young-adult relationships).

"Snow Angels" embraces the worst of life's truths and some pretty bad people too (you'll be surprised to find that Annie is the worst of the bunch), though it does so shapely and with searing drama in mind. It's certainly tragic, maybe even depressing, but it stands for hope, renewal, and constancy-each represented by Arthur and Lila's bond, Glenn's testing faith, and Barb's unyielding loyalty to Annie, respectively -- making the mercy and tenderness with which it is shot and performed the part that viewers are finally left with. It's fair to call "Snow Angels" a great film (it's no masterpiece). I think it's one of 2008's ten best films.