>>REVIEW
SNOW CAKE
STARRING: Alan Rickman, Carrie-Anne Moss, Sigourney Weaver
DIRECTED BY: Marc Evans
Opens Friday, December 22
Uptown Screen
The shimmer of reflected sunlight bounces off the crystal contours of a single snowflake in a hypnotic display of visceral beauty. Each snowflake, at once unique and part of a much greater collective, is provided with unlimited possibilities with which to redirect that light. Endlessness contained within the unlimited, infinity ad nauseum, and, yes,, we are those snowflakes. Now, is this sentimental tripe, or gleeful optimism?
So goes the running motif in Marc Evans latest film Snow Cake and how you view the above statement will, more then likely, reflect your opinion of his film.
Admittedly, I was on the fence for much of itthough I want to believe that this Canadian/British co-production (featuring a musical score by Broken Social Scene) thawed my cynical heart by the time the final credits rolled.
Alan Rickman is Alex Hughes, an emotionally repressed ex-con recently released from prison for having killed a man (the specifics of his crime are better left unsaid here). On a road trip to Winnipeg to see an "old friend" Alex happens across Vivienne, a vivacious young hitchhiker with an affinity for lost souls. Rather reluctantly he offers her a ride and the two set fourth as the perfect odd couple. However, a road movie this is not, and just when it appears that Vivienne’s compassion and exuberance might break down Alex’s walls, tragedy strikes in the form of a wayward semi which kills her instantly, but leaves Alex relatively unscathed (physically at least).
Severely distraught, Alex finds refuge in the most unlikely of places when he goes to confront Vivienne’s autistic mother Linda (Sigourney Weaver) and ends up spending the days leading up to the funeral living in her house. Dividing his time between caring for Linda and copulating with her randy neighbor (Carrie-Ann Moss), Alex begins the slow road to his emotional recovery.
The script borders on melodrama, the chemistry between Rickman, Moss and Weaver is flat and Weaver’s autism appears rooted only in dramatic convenience. Yet despite all of this, there remains a good heart to this film that almost begs you to like it and though I’m not entirely sure why, I did. |
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