Review of Snow Angels (2007) by Danielle S — 22 Oct 2008

"Snow Angels" first introduces us to a group of people whose intertwined lives and relationships form the true heart of the film. There is Arthur Parkinson (Michael Angarano), a teenager who works at the local Chinese restaurant, plays the trombone in the band and hangs out with his cheerfully weirdo buddy Warren (Connor Paolo).

Although gawky and unsure in the manner that all of us were during our high school years, he catches the eye of new girl Lila (Olivia Thirlby) and they develop a friendship that she is definitely eager to see blossom into something more.

Arthur, on the other hand, is a little more reticent in these matters. He is currently an unwilling front-row spectator to the demise of his parents' marriage and the sight of his father (Griffin Dunne) dithering between leaving his family for good and yearning to come back into the fold whenever single life doesn't completely agree with him.

In a parallel storyline, we are introduced to another couple, Glenn (Sam Rockwell) and Annie (Kate Beckinsale), who began as high school sweethearts like Arthur and Lila and whose marriage has ended in a divorce as bitter and unhappy as the one that Arthur's parents seem destined to endure.

A former alcoholic with at least one suicide attempt in his past, Glenn has recently become a born-again Christian in an effort to pull his life together enough to reunite with Annie and their young daughter, Tara (Gracie Hudson).

Green's storytelling style might not immediately work for some viewers. His pacing is a little more languorous than the usual Hollywood production and, here, not all of the characters' relationships are revealed in the movie's first act.

But there is something masterful about Green's deliberately timed way of exposing the connections they share with one another. Beckinsale is excellent as Annie, a caring mother who is emotionally tired and more than a little lonely.

Watching the carefully measured affection she shows her husband, it's clear that she still cares for him but she's no longer in love with him. Rockwell puts in a controlled and powerful performance as Glenn, a born-again Christian who is trying to repair his marriage.

Michael Angarano and Olivia Thirlby as offbeat but still very real teenagers cautiously stepping into the realm of romance. Their chemistry is sweet and authentic, again demonstrating the director's ability to capture wonderfully natural performances.

While Snow Angels is composed around a knot of characters all closely tied together, there is an inescapable sense of dislocation that seems to keep their stories hermetically sealed from one another.