Review of Snow Angels (2007) by Ryan M — 29 Dec 2008

There is only so much a writer or director can put an audience through in the two hours or so they have to tell their story. By asking the audience to watch your film, you have the responsibility of giving them a satisfying story. If you ask them to follow a harrowing plotline, there had better be a light at the end of the tunnel, or a substantial theme that vindicates your dour finale, something to prove that that ending, despite its bleak nature, is a fitting finish to the story. Unfortunately, David Gordon Green betrays and abuses whatever audience is unfortunate enough to sit through Snow Angels.

The film begins with an odd speech from the local high school conductor, who tells his marching band, â??Every person matters; every step is in anticipation of the next,â?? right before he asks them, â??Do you have a sledgehammer in your heart?â?? That first quote could have made for some interesting foreshadowing, had the film had enough discipline to follow it.

The cast is stunning, and for the first hour, they cement the realism the film strives for, until the story goes off the rails when it tries to control huge emotions. These charactersâ?? broken relationships are at first explored quietly and delicately, with observant and honest interactions. The few times anyone says â??I love you,â?? it is treated as an afterthought â?? a stark and candid detail as the audience comes to recognize the characters.

However, as the film reaches its second hour, it becomes clear that the family dynamic of Angaranoâ??s character is frustratingly underdeveloped and distracts from the other storylines. The filmâ??s themes are strangely unapparent, even despite some grotesquely overt dialogue that just takes viewers out of the story. Emotions are half-formed, never climaxing appropriately and leaving the viewer jarred. Also, Glenn starts talking way too much for the film to capitalize on the first hourâ??s moody, quiet effect. Worst of all, the conversation during the climax makes the scene positively silly.

There was so much potential here, but Snow Angels falls into the trap of Gordon Greenâ??s All the Real Girls, which also misstepped in its ending. Perhaps what the film needed was a sledgehammer in its heart.