Story of movie Snow Angels Film : Snow Angels is a 2007 drama film starring Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale. It was directed by David Gordon Green, who also wrote the screenplay adapted from Stewart O'Nan's 1994 novel of the same title. The film premiered in the dramatic competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. It is a character driven film centered on several characters dealing with loss of innocence in a small town. Snow Angels was released on 7 March 2008.
| Snow Angels | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | David Gordon Green |
| Produced by | Dan Lindau R. Paul Miller Lisa Muskat Cami Taylor |
| Screenplay by | David Gordon Green |
| Based on | the novel by Stewart O'Nan |
| Starring | Kate Beckinsale Sam Rockwell Michael Angarano Jeanetta Arnette Griffin Dunne Nicky Katt Tom Noonan Connor Paolo |
| Music by | David Wingo Jeff McIlwain |
| Cinematography | Tim Orr |
| Edited by | William Anderson, ace. |
Production company | Warner Independent Pictures Crossroads Films True Love Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Independent Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.5 million |
| Box office | $402,858 |
Screenplay
On a cold afternoon, with snow on the ground, a high school band in a small Pennsylvania town is practicing for the season’s last football game, when they hear gunshots. The film abruptly flashes back to a few weeks before, to a Chinese restaurant that employs a high school boy named Arthur, his ex-babysitter, Annie, and her best friend, Barb. Arthur, who's a bit of a misfit, has a troubled home life caused by his constantly clashing parents, both of whom often forget about him. Annie's life isn't faring much better: she's dealing with her ill mother, is separated from her husband, Glenn, and is now raising their young daughter, Tara, on her own. Glenn is now on the wagon and becoming a born-again Christian in order to prove that he is responsible enough to spend time with Tara.
Depressed and lonely, Annie is having an affair with Barb's husband, Nate, which eventually serves to only make her unhappier, as she feels great guilt over betraying her best friend. Desperate to prove himself and still harboring deep feelings for his estranged wife (whom he suspects is seeing someone), Glenn gets a new job and spends as much time as possible with Tara. Meanwhile, Arthur finds himself growing close to Lila, a new student at the high school who has a knack for photography.
The film focuses heavily on how people's lives can cross in a small town, especially when Tara wanders out of the house and goes missing while Annie, having just lost her best friend over the affair and suffering from a bad cold, falls asleep on the couch. The whole town spends hours desperately searching for Tara, before Arthur finds her body while smoking pot with his friend. To everyone’s horror, Tara fell into open freezing water at the edge of the lake while playing, drowned, then the open water froze over her. This turn of events leads to Glenn and Annie having complete breakdowns, which results in her going with him into the snow-covered woods, where she placidly kneels before his shotgun, ending with their murder-suicide.
- Kate Beckinsale as Annie Marchand
- Sam Rockwell as Glenn Marchand
- Michael Angarano as Arthur Parkinson
- Jeanetta Arnette as Louise Parkinson
- Griffin Dunne as Don Parkinson
- Nicky Katt as Nate Petite
- Tom Noonan as Mr. Chervenick
- Connor Paolo as Warren Hardesky
- Amy Sedaris as Barb Petite
- Olivia Thirlby as Lila Raybern
Filming, in-part, occurred on-location in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Critical response
The film received generally positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 68% approval rating with an average rating of 6.8/10 based on 110 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "With fine acting and considerable emotional depth, Snow Angels aptly captures the highs, and especially the lows of human relationships." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 67 out of 100, based on 28 reviews.
Steven Rea of the Philadelphia Inquirer called the film "a compelling, and grim, portrait of small-town lives gone wrong", "disturbingly good", while also writing, "the film's characters get inside your skin, your soul. It's enough to make you want to cry." Richard Corliss of Time wrote, "The film's success is due in large part to actors who are both faithful to all the social minutiae and seductive enough to keep you watching." He also praised director David Gordon Green for his gift, "to show how people learn codes of affection and aggression from watching movies, but when they try to pull them off in crucial situations they come out awkward, embarrassed and futile."
The film appeared on some critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Marc Mohan of The Oregonian named it the 4th best film of 2008, and Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune named it the 8th best film of 2008.
Among the critics who gave the film a negative review was Kyle Smith of the New York Post, who gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, calling the film, "funny, beautifully written, nicely observed, sweetly familiar. For the first half", and felt, "the film's change of key in the second half feels like a betrayal."
Box office
The film opened in limited release in the United States on March 7, 2008 and grossed $14,247 in two theaters its opening weekend.
Warner Home Video released Snow Angels on DVD on September 16, 2008 on a single disc in widescreen and full screen versions.
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