Snow Angels (film)

Last updated
Snow Angels
Snow angels post.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by David Gordon Green
Screenplay byDavid Gordon Green
Based on Snow Angels
by Stewart O'Nan
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Tim Orr
Edited by William Anderson
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Independent Pictures
Release dates
  • January 19, 2007 (2007-01-19)(Sundance)
  • March 7, 2008 (2008-03-07)(United States)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.5 million
Box office$402,858

Snow Angels is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by David Gordon Green, based on Stewart O'Nan's 1994 novel, and starring Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale. The film is centered on several characters dealing with loss of innocence in a small town. It premiered in the dramatic competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and was released in the United States on March 7, 2008, by Warner Independent Pictures. [1]

Contents

Plot

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 while their teacher, Mr. Chervenick, is giving instructions. 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 decides to betray her best friend by having an affair with Barb's husband, Nate, but finds that ruining Barb's life doesn't make her own life any happier. Desperate to prove himself and still harboring deep feelings for his estranged wife (though he suspects she 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, drained over having meaninglessly destroyed her friendship with Barb 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 had fallen into open freezing water at the edge of the lake while playing and drowned, after which the open water froze over her. Glenn, distraught over the death of Tara, breaks into Annie's home with his shotgun and waits for her return. Upon Annie's return Glenn grabs her and forcibly washes her feet. Covering her mouth as she cries and screams at him, he drags a barefoot Annie by the collar into the snowy woods. With her kneeling, back turned to him, Glenn holds his gun to her head and tells her to say when she's ready (to be shot). The film presumably ends with their murder-suicide, explaining the shots heard before the flashback.

Cast

Production

Filming, in-part, occurred on-location in Nova Scotia, Canada. [2]

Reception

Critical response

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 67% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10 based on 113 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." [3] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 67 out of 100, based on 28 reviews. [4]

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." [5] 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." [6]

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, [7] and Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune named it the 8th best film of 2008. [7]

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. [8]

DVD release

Warner Home Video released Snow Angels on DVD on September 16, 2008, on a single disc in widescreen and full screen versions. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Beckinsale</span> English actress (born 1973)

Kathrin Romany Beckinsale is an English actress. The only child of actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe, she debuted onstage in a 1992 production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever.

<i>Laurel Canyon</i> (film) 2002 film by Lisa Cholodenko

Laurel Canyon is a 2002 American drama film written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko. The film stars Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Natascha McElhone, and Alessandro Nivola.

<i>Running on Empty</i> (1988 film) 1988 film by Sidney Lumet

Running on Empty is a 1988 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Naomi Foner and starring River Phoenix, Judd Hirsch, Christine Lahti, and Martha Plimpton. It was produced by Lorimar Film Entertainment. It is the story of a counterculture couple on the run from the FBI, and how one of their sons starts to break out of this fugitive lifestyle.

<i>Serendipity</i> (film) 2001 romantic comedy film by Peter Chelsom

Serendipity is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Chelsom, written by Marc Klein, and starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. The film grossed $77.5 million on a $28 million budget.

<i>The Invisible</i> (2007 film) 2007 film

The Invisible is a 2007 teen supernatural thriller starring Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva, Chris Marquette, Marcia Gay Harden, and Callum Keith Rennie. The film, directed by David S. Goyer, was released in theaters on April 27, 2007. The Invisible is based on the Swedish young adult novel by Mats Wahl, which was previously adapted into a Swedish film of the same name. It is the last movie produced by Hollywood Pictures before the company's closure in 2007.

<i>Snow Angels</i> (novel) Book by Stewart ONan

Snow Angels is a 1994 novel by American author Stewart O'Nan.

<i>Winged Creatures</i> (film) 2008 American film

Winged Creatures is a 2008 psychological drama directed by Rowan Woods and starring Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning, Josh Hutcherson, Guy Pearce, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Embeth Davidtz. It is an adaptation of Roy Freirich's novel Winged Creatures. It was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group in the United States on August 4, 2009, as Fragments.

<i>Whiteout</i> (2009 film) 2009 film by Dominic Sena

Whiteout is a 2009 crime thriller film based on the 1998 comic book of the same name by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber. Directed by Dominic Sena and starring Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Columbus Short and Tom Skerritt, the film was distributed by Warner Bros. and released on September 11, 2009. It was produced under the banner of Dark Castle Entertainment by Joel Silver, Susan Downey and David Gambino.

Underworld is an action horror film series created by Kevin Grevioux, Len Wiseman, and Danny McBride. It follows characters who are caught up in a war between vampires and werewolves. Most of the films star Kate Beckinsale as Selene. The first film, Underworld (2003), introduces Selene, an elite vampire-warrior who defies her orders, and Michael Corvin, a human who gets caught up in the war. The second film, Underworld: Evolution (2006), follows Selene and Michael as they are hunted by their enemies. The third film, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), is the prequel to the series, chronicling the origins of the vampire-lycan war. The fourth film, Underworld: Awakening (2012), is the sequel to Underworld: Evolution. In this film, humans have discovered the existence of vampires and lycans, and are trying to eradicate both species. A fifth film, titled Underworld: Blood Wars (2016), focuses on Selene who tries to stop a new war between vampires and lycans.

<i>Nothing but the Truth</i> (2008 American film) 2008 American film

Nothing but the Truth is a 2008 American political drama film written and directed by Rod Lurie. The film stars Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett, Alan Alda and Vera Farmiga. According to comments made by Lurie in The Truth Hurts, a bonus feature on the DVD release, his inspiration for the screenplay was the case of journalist Judith Miller, who in July 2005 was jailed for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating a leak naming Valerie Plame as a covert CIA operative, but this was merely a starting point for what is primarily a fictional story. In an April 2009 interview, Lurie stressed: "I should say that the film is about neither of these women although certainly their stories as reported in the press went into the creation of their characters and the situation they find themselves in."

<i>Over Her Dead Body</i> (2008 film) 2008 American film

Over Her Dead Body is a 2008 American romantic comedy film starring Eva Longoria, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell, Lindsay Sloane and Jason Biggs. It was written and directed by Jeff Lowell. The film is about Kate, who dies on the day of her wedding to fiancé Henry. He subsequently begins a relationship with psychic Ashley who becomes haunted by Kate trying to sabotage their relationship.

<i>Underworld: Rise of the Lycans</i> 2009 film directed by Patrick Tatopoulos

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is a 2009 American action horror film directed by Patrick Tatopoulos from a screenplay by Danny McBride, Dirk Blackman, and Howard McCain, based on a story by Len Wiseman, Robert Orr, and McBride. It is a prequel to Underworld (2003) and the third installment in the Underworld film series. The film stars Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, Rhona Mitra, Steven Mackintosh, and Kevin Grevioux. The plot focuses primarily on the origins of the characters and the events that lead up to the Vampire–Lycan war. Kate Beckinsale, who starred in the previous Underworld films, appears briefly at the end of the film.

<i>Everybodys Fine</i> (2009 film) 2009 film by Kirk Jones

Everybody's Fine is a 2009 American drama film written and directed by Kirk Jones, and starring Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale. It is a remake of Giuseppe Tornatore's Italian film Everybody's Fine. In Brazil, Russia and Japan, the film was released direct-to-DVD.

<i>And So It Goes</i> (film) 2014 American film

And So It Goes is a 2014 American comedy drama film directed by Rob Reiner and written by Mark Andrus. The film, which stars Michael Douglas, Diane Keaton and Sterling Jerins, was released on July 25, 2014. It received mostly negative reviews from critics, and performed modestly at the box office. The film was the second collaboration between Reiner and Douglas, after The American President (1995). This film was also Frances Sternhagen's final feature film role before her death on November 27, 2023.

<i>Stonehearst Asylum</i> 2014 film

Stonehearst Asylum, previously known as Eliza Graves, is an American psychological horror film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Joseph Gangemi. It is loosely based on the 1845 short story "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" by Edgar Allan Poe. The film, starring Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, and David Thewlis, was released on October 24, 2014.

<i>The Face of an Angel</i> 2014 British psychological thriller

The Face of an Angel is a 2014 British psychological thriller directed by Michael Winterbottom and written by Paul Viragh. The film was inspired by the book Angel Face, drawn from crime coverage by Newsweek/Daily Beast writer Barbie Latza Nadeau. The film stars Kate Beckinsale, Daniel Brühl, and Cara Delevingne.

<i>The Disappointments Room</i> 2016 American psychological horror film

The Disappointments Room is a 2016 American psychological horror film directed by D. J. Caruso, written by Caruso and Wentworth Miller, and starring Kate Beckinsale and Mel Raido as a couple in a new house that contains a hidden room with a dark, haunted past. The film was inspired by an HGTV episode from a segment called "If Walls Could Talk".

The Widow is a British television drama series created and written by Harry and Jack Williams, airing on both British ITV and American streaming service Amazon Prime Video, with Prime also carrying the series internationally. It stars Kate Beckinsale as a woman who believes that her husband was killed in a plane crash three years earlier, but then discovers that he is still alive in the Congo. The show was released on Amazon Prime Video on 1 March 2019 before being broadcast on ITV from 8 April 2019.

<i>Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar</i> 2021 comedy film

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is a 2021 comedy film directed by Josh Greenbaum, from a screenplay by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, who also star. It’s an international co-production film between the United States and Mexico. Originally scheduled for a 2020 theatrical release, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was pushed back and released in the United States by Lionsgate via VOD on February 12, 2021. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.

<i>Jolt</i> (film) 2021 American film

Jolt is a 2021 American action film directed by Tanya Wexler and written by Scott Wascha. The film stars Kate Beckinsale, Susan Sarandon, Bobby Cannavale, Laverne Cox, Stanley Tucci, and Jai Courtney. It was released on July 23, 2021, by Amazon Studios

References

  1. ↑ "Snow Angels". Moviefone. 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  2. ↑ "Kate Beckinsale discusses having children and Lily's career choices". People. 16 March 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "Snow Angels". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved October 20, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Snow Angels (2008): Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved March 17, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Life worsening in a disturbingly good film". Philly. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  6. ↑ Richard Corliss (March 7, 2008). "Snow Angels and Married Life: Wedded Blisters". Time . Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic . Archived from the original on February 12, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Snow Angels (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  9. ↑ "Critically aclaimed[sic] Snow Angels on DVD (Sept 16)". DVDTOWN.com. Archived from the original on 2008-09-19. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.