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Rating:  -
Welsh-born film director, Marc Evans, who has given us HOUSE OF AMERICA (1997), and RESURRECTION MAN (1998), stepped back from the Thriller/Horror genre, and was lured to the wilds of Wawa, Ontario--a small Canadian town of 4,000 that is lorded over by a huge statue of a snow goose, by a very sensitive script written by Angela Pell, and a powerhouse dream cast. SNOW CAKE is a film about pain, retribution, angst, revenge, inner demons, middle-aged angst and sex, disabilities, small town idiosyncrasies and politics, acceptance, and love--that can rear its beautiful mug in the dangdest places at the weirdest times.
The poster tagline was, "sometimes stopping is the most important part of the journey." An ex-convict, Alex (Alan Rickman) was on a road trip, a painful and emotional odyssey, to Winnipeg. He harbored dark secrets and stress, and we are not at first aware of the exact nature of his "crime". At a truck stop diner, the reserved and taciturn Alex met a loquacious, bubbly, sweet yet eccentric young woman--Vivienne (Emily Hampshire). Reluctantly, Alex offered her a ride to Wawa.
Tragically, just as they pulled out onto the highway they were T-boned by an 18 wheeler semi. Vivienne was killed, but Alex emerged without a scratch. Traumatized, he decided to contact the girl's mother to convey his condolences and regrets. When he met the mother, Linda (Sigourney Weaver), he was confronted with a middle-aged highly-functioning autistic woman. She seemed to beguile him with her lack of emotion, and she invited him to stay with her until Vivienne's funeral--so that he could, "take out the garbage on Tuesday. Vivienne always did that. I don't do garbage."
Alex did stay for several days, and he found a gentle way to co-exist with Linda's eccentricities, her obsession with cleanliness, her fascination with "sparkling" things, her need to jump often on her trampoline, her love of eating snow, and her need to keep all hands and feet out of her kitchen. Soon Alex met the attractive next-door neighbor, Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss), and they made an attempt to "start" a relationship. Before the funeral, we discovered Alex's pain-ridden past, and why he railed so emotionally against the truck driver (Callum Keith Rennie)--we met Linda's wonderful parents, who had raised Vivienne, and we learned to appreciate the relative independence that Linda had carved out laboriously for her self.
Sigourney Weaver was astonishingly good, just excellent, as Linda. She had studied Autism, and somehow found a way to deglamorize herself, and be emerged completely in the tic-ridden, quirky yet likeable Linda. The writer Angela Pell, has an autistic son, and so understands the bumpy emotional terrain she wrote about. Alan Rickman of the dour smirk, quick wit, and carefully phrased speech, found a character in Alex that was flawed and still redeemable, middle-aged sexy, very capable of terrible anger, yet equally capable of growth, of an epiphany, who at the end of his journey in Wawa discovered some form of acceptance and patience. Carrie-Anne Moss presented us with a Maggie who was outspoken, an outsider in a small town, sexually emancipated, fiercely independent, well read, well versed, needy yet giving, warm and real, yet still vulnerable, and of course incredibly sensual. She took what was essentially a "nothing role", embraced it and breathed life into it.
SNOW CAKE like other Canadian winter dramas, reminiscent of Atom Egoyan's THE SWEET HEREAFTER (1997), and Sarah Polley's AWAY FROM HER (2006), created a movie malleable microcosm of humanity and human nature--that touches us as it teaches, that provided a lively peek into the lives and hearts of several unique and "special" characters. It is a quiet film that nevertheless grips our shoulders firmly, a stern but patient tutor who had an interesting lesson to share.
Rating:  -
Portrayal of a sensitive man isn't often given to Alan Rickman, but he surpasses his usual image with mastery in this poignant story. The opening scene of him airborne imparts the persona well - yet he's only sitting there, not even looking out the window. Alex Hughes is a con, who "killed a man". He's accosted by a young woman in a diner claiming he "looks like he needs to talk", something he rejects. It's Northern Ontario in early winter - not the most attractive season but highly fitting. Vivienne is an aspiring writer wanting to know about people. She's cut off in that youth by a semi-truck who sends Alex's car flying into the snow. Beset by guilt, he wends his way to Wawa, an isolated community along the Transcanada Highway to confront Vivienne's mother with unneeded apologies.
Linda [Weaver] greets him with total indifference. Vivienne is gone and there's nothing more to be done. She's autistic, with many of the symptoms portrayed by an actress who's clearly researched the syndrome. Subject to obsessions, given to outbursts over what are mundane circumstances to the rest of us, Weaver performs impeccably in the role. "I don't do garbage", she says, urging him to stay to move the bins to the street on Tuesday. Reluctantly, he agrees, perceiving Linda's state requires no little compassion. She has nobody else to rely on, keeping her distance from her neighbours in town - especially Maggie - "she's a prostitute", says Linda.
There are neither lapses nor "hanging" scenes in this film. Every frame carries the message of a man beset by grief. The prison sentence was from his wreaking vengeance on the man who, while driving drunk, had struck Alex's son, killing him. Rickman carries this film throughout, Weaver, for all her abilities in portraying Linda, remains yet a foil to a man so riven by grief and guilt. Unlike Linda, who must be accommodated, Alex must endure a painful healing process. It has already been long and painful, and there's no assurance that even the meeting of his former wife in distant Winnipeg will relieve him of his woes. That situation keeps the film heavy, but the performances make it more than bearable, it's compelling. Carrie-Anne Moss brings a particular strength in a small town as a woman sexually driven, but is in no way hackneyed in her role as Maggie.
Throughout the film Rickman is the balance point of many forces, his own anguish, Linda's bizarre lapses into her own world and Maggie's need for a man she can respect. A post-accident confrontation with the truck driver brings a turning point - Alex, who has feelings in check is given the opportunity to vent them fully. Does he achieve release? Death, to him, is a very significant presence, yet Linda simply asserts that "We won't see Vivienne again", a more rational approach than being suffused by crippling sadness. All we come to believe about Alex is confronted by his departure "gift" to Linda, a masterful departure from the grim man we've come to know. The film could have been terribly hackneyed, but Marc Evans has managed a low-key masterpiece. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Rating: -
HOT = Alan Rickman is my favorite actor for more reasons than there is space to write. Having said that, if you have never heard of him, I can promise you that you will be amazed. It must have something to do with his connection in aiding autism awareness. His character has quite alot of baggage, but he still manages to care. Thoughts & Deeds are essential.
ICE = Sigourney Weaver's performance in this film is astounding. She makes a real connection by disconnecting. You know that feeling you get when ice stays on your tongue too long? It burns! That's how it is watching her. Cold & hot all at the same time.
SCREAM = There are many screams in this film and not all audible. You'll understand if you buy it (or rent it). My internal screaming was what grabbed me with this film. I found myself wrenching in moments of their turmoil & sadness. Then, in the next scene, laughing & elated by the true interaction these actors brought to us through fantastic writing & direction.
Rating: -
Alex is recently released from prison and runs into a young teenage hitchhiker (Vivienne) looking for a lift. Unexpected events lead him to the home of Vivienne's mom, who is autistic. Here the story builds on the histories and lives of the characters in the movie. The story is appropriately set in a small desolate town in western Canadian in early winter. If you are looking for an action thriller with guns and guts - this movie isn't for you. This movie penetrates deeply and slowly into the lives of the main characters - including lessons in love, loneliness, revenge, forgiveness, compassion and living each moment to its fullest.
Rating: -
This is a film about a man with "reparable" problems who is unexpectedly sharing space with a woman who has irreparable ones. It is not as annoyingly virtuous as a descrption makes it sound: Man with baggage (or, as he says, "haulage") is accidentally involved in death of young girl and visits her mother, who has high-functioning autism, staying to help her with the funeral and learning life lessons in the process.
I thought this was a film in which the writing was good enough that the characters, rather than the actors, shone through. All of the acting was good but it was the clever, deft handling of the themes in the script that made this film. I have heard Sigourney Weaver, as the mother, faulted for being "actor-ish", but I am not sure that this is the case. It is true that her character does get some of the best and most perceptive lines. This may be unlikely but I was willing to suspend my disbelief for a positive, likeable film.
The setting, in Wawa, (Ontario?), Canada, was perfection.
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