I’m a huge fan of small-town dramas (not the ones that are dispersed with quirky, sarcastic, or black humor, but the really heavy dramas), so when the unheard movie Snow Angels fell into my lap, it felt too good to be true. This movie made less than $500,000 at the box office despite some mostly positive acclaim from the critics (67% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It stars a couple of A-list celebrities, Kate Beckinsale (Underworld, Brokedown Palace) and Sam Rockwell (Moon, The Way Way Back), and some unknown actors and actresses who gave some dynamite performances. While the moving will depress you, it is a wonderfully crafted movie that fans of these small-town dramas would most likely enjoy. Fans of Rockwell should most certainly see this movie as this is one of the finest performances of his career.

The film is about relationships. It deals with three in particular. There is some overlap between the three, but it’s one of those movies that tells three stories at once. So if you walk away liking two stories, you might classify that as a victory. If all three stories win you, you might walk away thinking this movie is something fantastic that you would watch over and over again as the years pass. This was the case with me. I write this review after watching this movie for the second time in the last three or four years. It has staying power. I’m even more engrossed by it now as I’ve seen a handful of Rockwell movies for the first time since that has been mighty impressive. Snow Angels ranks in his top three for sure. And Beckinsale shows her mastery as a dramatic actress. Most of the world knows her for Underworld franchise, but she has been fantastic when given the opportunity outside the fantasy/science fiction genre. A lot of people knock on Pearl Harbor. I thought the movie was halfway decent, although, given the opportunity to showcase this event, I’m not sure why they centered it around an individual gone missing love story. Beckinsale was very good as the love interest of Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett. And if you haven’t had the opportunity to see Brokedown Palace, check it out. The critics knocked it hard, but I thought it was good.

Based on the novel by Stewart O’Nan, the film centers on a terrible tragedy that brings the entire small town together. The central story is the crumbled relationship between high school sweethearts turned husband and wife, Annie (Beckinsale) and Glenn (Rockwell). The two have a young daughter together. It is Glenn’s alcoholism and mental instability, and other compulsive tendencies have forced Annie to separate from him. To say Glenn is not okay with that is an understatement. After an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Glenn finds himself rediscovering the Bible. But his born-again Christian mentality is often just that. A mentality. His words and actions tell two different stories because his mental instability is far beyond his control. As a result, the fragile and insecure Annie is living with the mindset of “What will Glenn do next?” while also often making some terrible life choices herself. The most prominent of these is having an affair with Nate (Nicky Katt – television’s Law & Order), the husband of her co-worker and best friend Barb (television’s Raising Hope). This results in Annie being more on edge and only adding fuel to the fire that Glenn cannot control.

The second and third stories deal with the budding love between high school students Arthur (Michael Angarano – Haywire, Lords of Dogtown) and Lila (Olivia Thirlby – Juno, United 93) and the crumbling marriage between Arthur’s parents as a result, mostly, of his father’s mid-life crisis resulting in his infidelity. And while these two stories show that communication and compassion can often lead to hope and redemption, they cannot compensate for the feelings of despair and loss we experience in the Glenn/Annie story. Perhaps this was purposeful, but perhaps not. Director David Gordon Green (All the Real Girls, Undertow) could have averted our attention to the first story and explored the second and third acts a little more. But I think he was engrossed with the first story and had the talents to make it work in Beckinsale and Rockwell.

I have not read the book, so I do not know if it is as much of a downer as the movie is, but the film works for me. You can judge whether you think the ending is satisfying and whether each story gets its fair share of screen time. I loved the interconnectedness, but not the overlap of each of the characters with one another. The adage is true. In a small town like the one in this movie, everybody knows your name and business…for better or worse. Snow Angels is a heavy drama. If you’re into that kind of genre, check it out.

Plot 8.5/10
Character Development 9/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 9/10
Directing  8.5/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 10/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
93%

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