Snow Angels

Copyright 2008, Warner Independent Pictures

When it comes to depressing movies, could Revolutionary Road actually be topped as the victor of 2008? Yes, indeedy: Snow Angels, arguably one of the most realistic and, thus, most painful glimpses into modern-day, lower-class life, could very well be one of the great downer movies of the past few years. A movie like this one is hard to swallow because of all the flaws the characters in David Gordon Green's film have, all of the fateful mistakes, if only because there's so little metaphorical light to bathe in during this story.

Though it's essentially an ensemble piece, Snow Angels focuses on a few central characters. There's Annie (Kate Beckinsale, doing her best to not look gorgeous), a waitress at the local Chinese restaurant with a daughter, an ailing mother, and a gruff yet insecure ex-husband; there's Glenn (Sam Rockwell), the ex-husband who's also a born-again Christian and extremely suicidal; and Arthur (Michael Angarano), a quiet teen who also works at the Chinese restaurant and moves on from a crush on Annie to a relationship with Lila (Olivia Thirlby), a new girl in his high school. The most tension comes from the relationship between Annie and Glenn, and the way they treat their young daughter, Tara. The failings of their choices leads to arguments and, eventually, bloodshed.

The movie, set in Western Pennsylvania, was shot in Nova Scotia, which doesn't dampen the chilly effect of the entire film. Green uses his camera to isolate us in this small, unnamed town, to isolate us in the blandness of American life, the boring nature of the overworked and underpaid. If anything, the movie is oppressive in how little it lets up showing us these real lives. Though Beckinsale still looks a bit too glamorous to be hawking lo mein to the locals, she focuses all her efforts on becoming Annie, a prickly and frequently screwed-over young woman whose life shouldn't have ended up here. Rockwell, playing a constantly changing character, someone whose mood shifts depending on the hour, deals with the heavy work as well, but ends up slightly more dangerous on the screen, slightly more cavalier with his emotions. As is the case with most movies with him in it, he is the most fascinating actor to watch.

The other actors, even Angarano and Thirlby, don't have as much to do, and the teenage relationship never has any true angst; they fall slowly in love and never go anywhere else. Arthur's parents have a subplot dealing with their separation, but even Griffin Dunne and Jeanette Arnette can't lift the subplot to a point where it can feasibly fight with the duel between Annie and Glenn.

Despite its flaws and a surprisingly abrupt ending (however apt that ending may be), Snow Angels is a sad look at people that would be classified as the "real America," people who aren't living special lives, but have their own dramas to deal with, their own stories, uplifting and downbeat.

Three and a half stars out of four