Review of Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) by L C — 27 Apr 2009

This movie does minimal justice to a complex, interesting story that could have provided for a much more engaging viewing experience. Photographed with breath-taking prowess, it was fully deserving of its Best Cinematography nomination.

That being said, the artificial writing detracts from the visual beauty of the film and leaves the audience feeling cheated. By the end of the film I was sick of the agitating manipulation, muddled structure, lack of character development and a nonstop barrage of cliches.

Ethan Hawke and Max von Sydow perform well with the little amount of screen time they have, but the performances surrounding them are almost unanimously wooden and unconvincing. To put it plainly, this is a pretty movie to look at, but there's nothing else there.