Editorial Review:Album Description:A story of love lost and found in a small town, Snow Angels is a heartrending portrayal of three couples in various stages of life orbiting around each other in search of connection and meaning. An unexpected act of violence disrupts the lives of these intertwined couples revealing the profound moments in which they each realize how precarious and remarkable life can be.
Amazon.com:Since 2000’s
George Washington, his disarming debut, David Gordon Green has thrown in his lot with an assortment of down-on-their-luck characters. That empathetic tendency comes to fruition in
Snow Angels, his most carefully-calibrated feature. Like a marginally more upbeat
Ice Storm, solemnity never gives way to cynicism. The narrative revolves around a circle of small-town individuals (filmed in snow-covered Halifax, the action takes place somewhere on the East Coast). Restaurant worker Annie (Kate Beckinsale, in a career peak performance) is estranged from sporadically-employed high school sweetheart Glenn (
Joshua's Sam Rockwell). The two have their own child, but in her younger days, Annie took care of co-worker Arthur (
Lords of Dogtown's Michael Angarano), now a teenager himself. Arthur still carries a torch for his former babysitter, while artsy classmate Lila (
Juno's Olivia Thirlby) finds him equally appealing. With the adult relationships around him crumbling--including that of his own parents (Jeanetta Arnette and Griffin Dunne)--Lila’s flirtatious behavior leaves Arthur flummoxed. When Glenn finds out about his wife's affair with the married Nate (
Grindhouse's Nicky Katt), pent-up tensions give way to full-blown tragedy. In adapting Stewart O'Nan's novel, Green sets his film in the present rather than 1970s Pennsylvania, but the story is universal enough to work in any time or place. In the film's press notes, Rockwell says: 'I believe the film is about second chances. Some of the people in the film get them, some don't.' Fortunately, Green doesn't short-change a single one.
--Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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well-made downer from the frozen north
if you dont appreciate movies like "ethan frome" or "the rapture",you dont want to go here.i grew up in barre,vermont, and this movie seems plenty realistic to me.it makes me grateful for escaping to atlanta and for so-far avoiding a horrible fate.
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Interconnected lives hurtling down multiple dead ends...
This is a well-done movie with an excellent cast. Set in a small town in the winter, the plot involves multiple tortured souls. Do not see it if you are in a down mood or need a refill on your anti-depressants.
I would be hard-pressed to call it "entertainment" but not everything that you see is going to amuse. A good movie!!
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From Quiescence to Explosion
I read Stuart O'Nan's book Snow Angels: A Novel. While it was not as depressing as his second-person novel A Prayer for the Dying about the plague hitting a small town, I remember it as a very sad story. David Gordon Green whose film "George Washington" won Best First Film honor from the New York Film Critics Circle has adapted this to the screen. The juxtaposition of the small town normalcy of football and band practice to the personal conflicts and violence creates a tension that moves the film from quiescence to explosion.
Kate Beckinsale who was in Laurel Canyon and Underworld (Widescreen Special Edition) plays Annie, a young mother who is separated from her husband, having an affair with her best friend's husband and working in a Chinese restaurant. She flirts with Arthur who is in high school. While Beckinsale goes to the extremes of the emotional terrain demanded of her, it is her flawed character which alienates the viewer, leaving no good person for whom to root.
Sam Rockwell plays her unstable husband Glenn who loves his wife so much that he tried to commit suicide. Rockwell's character is quite different from the cool character in the quirky masterpiece "Lawn Dogs" and the villain in "Charlie's Angels." Rockwell won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor from the Berlin International Film Festival in 2003 for "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." Rockwell literally blows out the windows with a blockbuster performance of a man on an emotional precipice. Even at the end, it's hard to accurately tell if it's the event with his daughter or his grief over his marriage's breakup that sends him over the edge.
Arthur Parkinson is a high school student whose father has left his mother for a younger woman. Arthur is played by Michael Angarano who was in "Almost Famous" in 2000; and is one of the brightest spots in the film. The new girl in school is Lila who wears pointy glasses and takes photographs before her family moves yet again. Olivia Thirlby who was in Juno (Single-Disc Edition) does a good job as Lila who shyly sparks romance with Arthur. Jeanetta Arnette who was in the interesting film The Shipping News plays Arthur's mother who is glad her son has a social life. Griffin Dunne who has directed "Practical Magic" plays Arthur's dad Don Parkinson who leaves the family for another woman. Young Grace Hudson has a nice child cameo as Glenn & Annie's daughter Tara. Nicky Katt does a nice job as the tattooed Nate who has an affair with Annie.
One of the themes of the film was disturbing. Glenn spouts Christian rhetoric as proof of his rehabilitation before breaking one of the Ten Commandments. However, nowhere is a deep faith-based spirituality shown in any other character. Instead, it's all like shallow water similar to Tara's resting place. As the film spirals to its conclusion, there isn't any force trying to prevent the violence. Overall, as sad as "Snow Angels" was, the performances were affecting & the pacing on the film was excellent. Enjoy!
Rating: 
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Quite A Surprise...
This film is an interesting, if a bit flawed, trip into the lives of several small-town families and friends. A co-worker lent me the DVD without explaining any of the story. I had no expectations and subsequently found the movie to be pretty absorbing. In retrospect though, the movie does have several flaws including an extremely ornate second half. If I had to compare this to another movie it would be the far superior 'American Beauty'. If your curious about this title, I'd say rent it first before you buy-there's plenty of good film making here but there are also many flaws in the story and characters. 2 and 1/2 stars.
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Great movie.
I don't know why this movie recieved so many negative reviews. It was a dark and dreary movie but that's what I liked about it. Life is like this sometimes. Sam Rockwell did a great job taking you down to his character's level. The soundtrack was great as well, with Explosions In the Sky and Mono credited. For people that hate depressing endings like No Country For Old men and want their movies to have happy, fairtale endings then don't watch this. I enjoyed the bleakness of it.
