Review of Snow Angels (2007) by Chris B — 19 Sep 2008

"Snow Angels" intersects the lives and relationships of many members of a small community. The key player is Annie (Kate Beckinsale), who is a waitress at a local Chinese restaurant. She has a daughter with Glenn (Sam Rockwell), although the couple is now divorced. We never see exactly what led to their separation - although we are hinted that it had to do with Glenn's self-destructive and violent behavior. Also working at the restaurant is Arthur (Michael Angarano), a high school student who develops a relationship with the new girl in town, Lila (Olivia Thirlby). Arthur's parents (Jeanna Arnette and Griffin Dunne) are also separated, and his father looks to be an unreliable and consistently disappointing figure in his life.

The film is incredibly involving as it develops. Glenn's character, who always shows up completely drunk at inappropriate times, is acted so well that at times we almost sympathize with a completely unlikable guy. I also liked the scenes with Griffin Dunne, although he certainly could've used more time on screen. But the heart of the film is certainly the relationship between Arthur and Lila. In the middle of such a dark picture we have one of the most charming and cute relationships in recent memory - these two completely make you forget about Ellen Page and Michael Cera. Olivia Thirlby, especially, has an absolute break out performance and is absolutely irresistible. The film would have been an absolute chore to watch without them involved, but Green smartly added this innocent relationship to a very morbid and disturbing story.

The thing that stops "Snow Angels" from being a great movie is how tiresome the gloom and dread gets by the end. As the violence escalates in the second half of the film, I found myself unwilling to tag along for the ride. Something about the cute teenage couple, horrendously drunk born again Christian, and elements of "Gone Baby Gone" was really pushing me away from the story - at times, the film almost seems to lose focus. A director like Paul Thomas Anderson is able to intersect extraordinarily different characters in unique and interesting ways - while here, I don't feel like the script was nearly as clever as Green envisioned. Although it's well acted and directed, it spins out of control to the point where you feel cheated out of a satisfying conclusion.

There's a huge turn about halfway through the story that was fairly shocking, although rather cliched. Because of the strength of Rockwell's performance, and even Beckinsale who impressed me more than she ever has, we're able to tag along and retain our interest in the story. However, once the film goes into what caused the gunshot that we heard at the beginning of the film, I felt rather bored and unsatisfied. While it's great that the characters involved were clearly developed and we know exactly what led them to that point - it just seemed like such a typical way to end the story. I hate these movies that end in nothing but Greek tragedy. Why can't we have characters who have to exist beyond the story... the kind of character's that we want to see more of, and could imagine what they're doing now in life. It's good to wrap things up rather than leaving things open on many occasions, but in this film I was able to move on moments after the conclusion. When it's all said and done, there's not much about this that's even remotely memorable or insightful.

Although i'm trashing it's conclusion, the rest of "Snow Angels" is some of the best stuff you'll see this year. The acting and strength of the writing (especially between the teenage couple) is what makes it so enjoyable to watch. I haven't seen Green's previous films like "George Washington" that are consistently raved about, however this does make me want to seek out more of his work. It seems as though he's a guy who has a lot to say - but unfortunately for this one, he starting tampering in territory that was just a bit too familiar for my tastes.

See "Snow Angels" for the performances of Sam Rockwell and Olivia Thirlby alone. I cannot stress how much I loved the relationship between Arthus and Lila - and the fact that Ellen Page has become the quirky teen icon when Thirlby is infinitely more charming. While the ending is disappointing, the first 2/3rds or so was some of my favorite work this year.