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Snow Angels (2008)
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Reviews Counted:106
Fresh:71
Rotten:35
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: With fine acting and considerable emotional depth, Snow Angels aptly captures the highs, and especially the lows of human relationships.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, some violent content, brief sexuality and drug use.
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Mar 7, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $255,147
Synopsis: Director David Gordon Green (GEORGE WASHINGTON) adds another carefully sculpted drama to his resume with SNOW ANGELS. Green deposits a strong cast in a snowbound Pennsylvania town for his fourth... Director David Gordon Green (GEORGE WASHINGTON) adds another carefully sculpted drama to his resume with SNOW ANGELS. Green deposits a strong cast in a snowbound Pennsylvania town for his fourth full-length feature, which revolves around the troubled teenage life of young Arthur (Michael Angarano). Arthur divides his time between working at a Chinese restaurant and dealing with the break up of his parents. His endearing lack of self-confidence is tempered when new-girl-in-town Lila (Olivia Thirlby) shows a romantic interest in him. Meanwhile, Arthur's co-worker and former babysitter, Annie (Kate Beckinsale), is trying to raise her child alone after the failure of her marriage to the unhinged Glenn (Sam Rockwell). Annie also embarks on an unwise affair with Nate (Nicky Katt), who happens to be married to her best friend. Green's central characters try to make the best of their modest lives until a major incident, dropped halfway through the movie, raises the tension between Annie and Glenn to breaking point. Beckinsale, Rockwell, and Angarano all deliver consummate performances, and they are joined by a strong supporting cast that includes Griffin Dunne and a rare straight role for comedian Amy Sedaris. Green's style, so often compared to that of Terrence Malick, takes a slightly different turn here as the director delivers a relatively straightforward thriller. But the change suits him, and SNOW ANGELS contains enough edge-of-your-seat tension to keep audiences curious as to where the director is going to take them. [More]
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Angarano, Jeannetta Arnette
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Angarano, Jeannetta Arnette, Griffin Dunne, Nicky Katt, Tom Noonan, Amy Sedaris, Olivia Thirlby
Director: David Gordon Green
Director: David Gordon Green
Screenwriter: David Gordon Green
Producer: Lisa Muskat, Dan Lindau, Cami Taylor, Paul Miller
Composer: David Wingo, Jeff McIlwain
Studio: Warner Independent
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Reviews for Snow Angels
For a film full of murder, jealousy and fatalism, Snow Angels feels curiously small and anecdotal, and its impact diminishes as it nears its terrible conclusion.
A great director shines a light into the lives of the ordinary; a lame one offs a child and pretends that's magnitude.
This small town portrait isn’t eccentric; it’s just an indie-agnostic Peyton Place.
Snow Angels begins with a wink, but it ends with a sucker punch. And somehow this doesn't feel fair.
There are about two or three different films fighting for control of the screen during David Gordon Green's powerful but flawed Snow Angels
The plot becomes disjointed in the second half and suffers from tone changes. Still, the performances are compelling enough to make Snow Angels worth seeing.
This tepid melodrama, however, shows that the filmmaker hasn’t found a way to use his considerable strengths to enliven stock material just yet.
The movie entertains, albeit not in a way that will induce you to tell all your friends.
[Writer/director Green] has worked with cinematographer Tim Orr since his 2000 debut George Washington, but this time their trademark pastoral rhythms seem patchwork and the characters transparent.
Green doesn't seem to be charting a recognizable world, only the contours of his own mind.
Frequently perched between the poetic and the twee, Green has been bitten by the Whimsy Bug
Snow Angels does nothing to alleviate the pall of depression that hangs over American movies.
Instead of inescapable, the ending seems perfunctory and somewhat ridiculous. You don't feel the horror when we get to those final shots -- only relief that the movie is over.
It feels sort of like a poor man's version of American Beauty, stripped of all the good parts and devoted only to a low-budget wallowing in misery that will leave you shell-shocked and depressed on your way out of the theater.
Director David Gordon Green gives us glimpses into the lives of the characters populating his canvas but there's a feeling that he's only scratching the surfaces of stories that have deeper undercurrents.
Thoughtfully crafted but ultimately lugubrious, Green's latest only really connects when the director sticks to the small stuff.
There are no joyous moments to balance the heavy-handed dose of everyday reality some people are forced to endure.
Latest News for Snow Angels
September 22, 2008:
Powerful performances all around, but too many tangled and twisted family trees. Scorecard, please. ![]()
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July 17, 2008:
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David Gordon Green might seem like an unusual choice to direct Pineapple Express, but as it turns out, the man behind the camera for Snow Angels and All the Real Girls was a... More...
March 16, 2008:
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North American film fans heard the call of the elephant and stampeded to the box office to see the animated Dr. Seuss pic Horton Hears a Who, which enjoyed the largest opening... More...
March 14, 2008:
Powerful performances all around, but too many tangled and twisted family trees. Scorecard, please. ![]()
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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