Let's face it, while many adults aren't crazy about snow -- what with the resultant bad traffic and/or potential heart attack inducing shoveling -- kids love the stuff. Some of that's because it's a breath of fresh air (okay, actually moisture) and drastically alters the look of one's local landscape.
Of course, it also allows for things you can't normally do in its absence, such as skiing, snowboarding, sledding and, obviously, building snowmen. One snow-based character construction that I never really got into was that of making "snow angels."
You know, where you lie down in the white stuff and spread your arms and legs back and forth to create the wings and skirt of such a celestial being. As in many snow-related things, it's pretty at first, but then starts to melt, progressively becomes less pure, and isn't particularly enticing to lie in as things turn muddy and gross before eventually disappearing altogether.
That symbolism is the main thematic element of "Snow Angels," a generally well-crafted and acted dramatic ensemble about love in its various stages. Based on the novel of the same name by Stewart O'Nan, it focuses on a number of relationships at different points in their evolution, starting on the pure end and progressing on down through the mud and muck.
Representing the good stuff is Arthur and Lila (Michael Arnette & Olivia Thirlby), two high school students who meet by chance, hit if off, and slowly let their innocence segue into something a bit steamier. The fact that he's able to build such a relationship is remarkable considering that his parents (Jeanetta Arnette & Griffin Dunne) have just split up, with his dad moving out.
Then there's Arthur's coworker and former babysitter, Annie (Kate Beckinsale finally getting a meaty role once again) whose failed marriage to Glenn has led him to become an often drunken born again Christian who desperately wants to get back into her life as well as that of their preschool daughter (an incredibly cute and unbelievably naturalistic Gracie Hudson). That she's carrying on an affair with the husband (Nicky Katt) of yet another coworker (Amy Sedaris), though, doesn't make his quest seem terribly promising.
Beyond being something of a "downer" flick (what with the new love bit barely managing to stay afloat amidst all of the failed relationship flotsam surrounding it, not to mention the heartbreaking conclusion), the film's initial misstep is in starting near the end and then doing the old rewind to a few weeks earlier bit.
The sound of several nearby gunshots interrupting the local high school's marching band practice is obviously supposed to pique our interest and make us wonder -- as we watch the various relationships figuratively and literally unfold -- who or what is going to get it at the end. As in most such cases, it's really an unnecessary and convenient storytelling device that's one of the film's few artificial constructs (although some may find several third act developments teetering just above or even falling fully into just that).
What's refreshingly appealing, however, is that all of these characters and the words emanating from their mouths feel authentic, including from the get-go. By that, I mean they come off as natural and real, rather than the results of screenwriters penning the words, actors delivering them, and filmmakers overseeing all of that with some sort of directorial flourish thrown in for good measure.
I couldn't and still can't pinpoint exactly what writer/director David Gordon Green does differently with his characters and their words as compared to the Hollywood norm, but there's no denying there's a major chasm between the two. The result is that the personas here should elicit more of an emotional connection -- both good and bad -- with the viewer than normally occurs, thus making all that transpires that much more significant for those on this side of the screen. And that certainly helps the film avoid the maudlin and melodramatic side effects of what could have been not much more than a glorified soap opera (especially as things become a bit unhinged in that third act).
While clearly not what most anyone would label as a "feel good" flick (in fact, a bit more comic relief, no matter how minute, could have helped alleviate the progressive "downer" aura that runs throughout the proceedings), there's enough decent material here to warrant a slight recommendation for adult viewers. Showing that beauty and hope rarely remain in that pristine state when it comes to matters of the heart, "Snow Angels" rates as a 6 out of 10.
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