Wonderful character development!

Absolutely Fantastic

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A sad and a hard movie. And the full extent of its heaviness you will realize not during the watching, but after that. A heart heaviness doesn't leave fast enough. This film is mainly about human or family relationships, about giving another a chance to be forgiven, the ability to ask for forgiveness. About a bunch of things that come up from the relations between people. And those items we call 'life'. Sam Rockwell (my applause) and Kate Beckinsale did amazing performances (maybe the best roles too) and at their best, revealing a many-sided personality of the characters. Playing a his character Rockwell shows us his great acting talent and being a master of many-sided personality.

David Gordon Green's "Snow Angels" stars Michael Angarano as Arthur, a middle class teenager who is still infatuated with Annie (Kate Beckinsale), the young, beautiful, lower class woman who was once also his babysitter. The film traces Arthur's growing disillusionment with Annie, who reveals herself to be caught in a rut, juggling numerous domestic problems and always at odds with her ex boyfriend, played by Sam Rockwell. Mirrored to the disintegration of Arthur's idealised ardour for Annie is the blossoming of his love for a girl called Lila (played by Olivia Thirlby). Gradually Lila supplants Annie entirely, resulting in Annie's gruesome, violent ejection from Arthur's life. Typical of independent films which pretend to be about the poor, downtrodden or impoverished, the film ends in murder. It's a tragedy, you see.If the film is wholly predictable, and fails to locate its characters' plights within any wider, social context, "Snow Angels" nevertheless possesses some fine acting by both Beckinsale and the always reliable Sam Rockwell. Like most films of its ilk, it is condescending toward a certain socio-economic class and grimly deterministic to the point of parody ("You poor! You suffer!"), but like Green's "All the Real Girls" and "The Sitter", it is also ultimately saved by its overriding message of responsibility. Green's no moralist, but these two films nevertheless advocate simple virtues: "do undo others as you'd have them do unto you", "forgive" and "always be responsible". If not, your daughter drowns in a lake and your ex boyfriend shoots you. This is class consciousness as Old Testament god. As vengeful - and justified - adjudicator. Incidentally, American independent cinema of the 1990s often featured wealthy and middle class families bemoaning their dreary, suburban lives, before their watered down Greek tragedy plots climaxed with bloodshed, typically with offspring or spouses committing suicide, murder, dying or overdosing. Since 1997 it's been the same story, only now these indies focus on lower class or "white trash" characters, watching as they struggle to make ends meet before some violent climax. This trend started with films like "George Washington", "Kids" and "Gummo", and now seems to be fizzling to a conclusion. In most of these cases, these films (and their "mumblecore" and "shotgun toting rednecks" offshoots) are all designed around their budgets: how to make cheap, dramatic films which take place in environments sufficiently alien to affluent white audiences and appealing to left leaning American critics. "Alternative film" has now become as formulaic as the stuff it pretends not to be, and ultimately serves the same purpose as such reality TV shows as "Wife Swap" or "How Clean Is Your House", the horrified bourgeois gazing at the undisciplined classes, the films fetishizing poor or hick cultures, their cameras dwelling on rust, junk, derelict vehicles, poor kids, catatonic women, grime, poverty and destitution. Every year, Sundance serves up the same freak show.But no attempt is ever made to explore the worlds or social context (or causes) of these poor characters. This is British "kitchen sink" or Italian neorealism stripped of everything but the aesthetics of grime. Critics bought this when David Gordon Green's grungy "George Washington" was released, but time has revealed the entire genre to be vapid. This is grime as an aesthetic choice and plot as nothing but a skeleton upon which to hang the filth. 7.9/10 – Worth one viewing, for Rockwell, Beckinsdale and some good ambiance.

Yes. 2007's "Snow Angels" is easily one of the most potent and realistic dramas ever filmed. The story is about a handful of ordinary couples, young and older, in a NE hamlet at winter time (filmed in Nova Scotia). Some criticize that the film is depressing but it's inaccurate to say that the WHOLE movie is depressing. Nor does the film leave the viewer in a totally depressed state. There's a lot of beauty and hope amidst the shadows and darkness; and it left me pondering many things, including the numerous real-life people the characters remind me of. Certainly one storyline is tragic and depressing, but that's not the whole focus of the story (altough it is the dominant focus). The film is about romantic relationships in various stages and whether they're successful or not depending upon their responses to the inevitable crises & temptations of life:(No major spoilers here; just general plot revelations) Arthur and Lila's high school relationship is just budding and seems healthy and promising. - Glenn and Annie's relationship has been devastated by Glenn's alcoholism and anger/obsession issues; Annie wants to move on but foolishly chooses to have an affair with the husband of a friend. She's not only foolish, she's also treacherous! Glenn is truly trying to recover from his personal demons -- he even gets born-again -- but for some reason he has a hard time getting over his ex and moving forward with his life. His struggle between the positive and negative forces within us all is real. Both Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale are outstanding in their roles, Rockwell particularly so. In fact, I've never seen such a realistic and powerful performance. No kidding. The viewer sees his sincere desire to improve his life but foolish and selfish temptations manifest when he's faced with rejection and tragedy. Will he take the wise or foolish path? - Nate and Barb's relationship hits its first major crisis: Nate is discovered to be an adulterer, and not just with one person. Barb understandably responds with fierce anger, at first, until a tragedy shows her true angelic nature. - Arthur's parents separate but maybe there's still hope for their relationship and family. - Glenn's parent's are in the latter stage of a committed relationship, which seems to have been successful. - Glenn's loving & loyal retriever is the anithesis of Annie, who treats Glenn with hostility and desires to move on in life, away from him; although this is understandable, the viewer can't help but empathize and root for Glenn in light of his sincere attempts to improve his life and reconcile with his ex. After all, he's genuine & humble, he loves his daughter (and vice versa) and he's not an unfaithful scumbag. Pay attention to the very last scene to discover the fate of the dog. Take note of the scene (very minor spoiler) where one of the main characters takes down a painting of the cross (which represents love and self-sacrifice, of course) and there's a kid's handprint on the wall accompanied by the word "me". This signifies the selfish and immature turn he's decided to make. The film leaves the viewer with hope despite the series of foolish, tragic and criminal events -- hope that love will triumph, a certain couple will stay together and a youthful couple will make wise decisions and overcome the numerous pitfalls that destroy others. It could go either way. Yes, the young couple look happy and natural together, but everyone's like that in the early years of their relationship. Although the movie starts out showing Annie's hostility toward Glenn, she admits that Glenn always used to help her focus on the positive side of life and his total support was always comforting. The film shows a young character flirting with alcohol and pot; not all people get thrown offtrack by flirting with such things, I know, but one main character obviously did. Will he? Only time -- and wrong or right choices -- will answer these questions. Right after seeing the film I read the story about a recent incident in Arizona that mirrors the main storyline in the film. It happens. "Snow Angels" IS reality in every sense -- storyline, cast, acting, music, etc. In fact, the film is brilliant. Once seen, you'll never forget it. I'll personally treasure it for decades to come. My only complaint is that sometimes the camera bobbles around too much, drawing attention to itself. I realize the director is trying to be hip but the camera should never draw attention to itself. Fads pass away while solid filmmaking endures.

At first Snow Angels has enough undetermined story lines to pique your interest. But as the characters are developed (or should I saw undeveloped) it becomes terribly clear where things are heading.While I appreciate the ability of Director David Gordon Green to create atmosphere and context from situations of everyday life, a character study like this requires a confluence of performance, script, and interaction that make the viewer care about what is going to happen. Unfortunately, this really doesn't happen.I cannot agree with the reviews that laud the performances of Beckinsdale and Rockwell. Her character falls short in nearly everything she does. There isn't one trait that we might remember; and yet this isn't emphasized enough to cite exceptional acting. As for Sam Rockwell, his performance is confusing enough to know there might be something wrong, but not nuanced enough to ever think there ISN'T SOMETHING wrong. Thus, he needs some depth, some question marks where the viewer is challenged in their suspicions.Neither performance is sole responsibility of the acting. The script apparently put much more focus on these characters than the (never read it) supposedly riveting novel of the same name. The script doesn't disguise anything. Boring is generally boring and crazy is apparently crazy and don't try to look for an alternative.Finally, the outcome of all these actions is uncomfortable and never really explained, but not at all with the creativity of say Gus Van Sant's "Elephant" In fact, my thoughts at the end fluctuated from "it's about time" to "who cares." Really, I felt pretty awful about these thoughts and I wish I cared more. But the story never gets you to the point of caring.And if that's the point of the film, I don't get it.