Snow Cake (2007)

Simply Perfect

i must have seen a different film!!

Crappy film

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Guilt-ridden after a young woman hitching a ride with him dies in his car, a Brit visits and ends up befriending the woman's autistic mother in this Canadian drama starring Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver. The film gets off to a quirky start with great repartee between Rickman and Emily Hampshire (the girl who dies). The subsequent film never quite recaptures this quirkiness, but it is compelling all the same with both leads in good form. Rickman is saddled an especially interesting character as we learn that he was recently released for prison, apparently for murder. As the film progresses, we gradually learn more about him and come to really get under his skin. The same cannot really be said for Weaver's character though, who brings a slate of unanswered questions. Her pregnancy and how she (and her parents) raised her daughter are particularly shied over, but more perplexing is how little she seems to have been taught about how to fit in with neurotypical people. Many of her idiosyncrasies ring true of autistic persons, but given that we see that she has been taught to offer a beverage, it never quite seems right how she has not been taught other things. Whatever the case, this is a minor quibble in what is generally a touching story. The film is more about Rickman's character anyway, and it resonates well as a tale of coping with grief and putting one's life in perspective.

In reviewing this movie, the first thing that has to be mentioned are the great performances from the two leads: Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman. Weaver was absolutely unbelievable as Linda Freeman, a woman suffering from autism who is confronted by her daughter's death in a car accident, while Rickman was almost as good (almost because he has a less demanding role) as Alex Hughes (the man who was driving the car in which Linda's daughter was killed.) After the accident, Alex takes it upon himself to visit Linda, and the movie basically follows the relationship the two develop. That, mind you, may be the movie's greatest weakness. I didn't really see either purpose or closure to this. Yes, we watch the relationship evolve, but personally I didn't think either Linda or Alex ever really moved on. I'm not sure after watching this what I wanted them to do, but everything in the end seemed so unresolved. Yes, I learned a lot about living with autism - and Weaver apparently researched the role studiously - but I still kept wondering where this was going and I never really got an answer.Having said that, this was still an enjoyable movie because of Weaver and Rickman, although I confess that I did wonder why - in a Canadian/British production - the need was felt to cast an American actress in the lead role? I appreciated the setting of the movie. Having lived a few years in Northern Ontario, the "feel" seemed realistic, with perhaps the one exception being the reaction of the neighbours to Linda dancing at Vivienne's wake. The movie seemed to portray their disapproval, whereas - knowing these types of communities - I believe the townsfolk would be far more understanding of Linda's "differences." That aside, I would still highly recommend this movie. It features some of the best acting you'll find anywhere. 7/10

How often do you encounter a film that you want to watch again as soon as you have just finished watching it? How often does a film about the range of human interaction, including the 'disability' of unconventional communication, not become a hindrance to enjoyment? How often do we get the opportunity to see an eclectic gathering of some of the most iconic actors ('Alien', 'Harry Potter', 'The Matrix) of our time in an art-house, 'minority' movie about philosophical issues, instead of big-budget Hollywood-studio stereotypical scenarios? What happens if you make an intelligent, optimistic, puzzle film, encompassing every emotion, plus with a heart, but omit bias, moralising and lecturing? Is such a film possible?Wow! If you have never even thought to ask these questions you will be amazed by this film, and if you have asked these questions, then this film is the reward that other people thought them too and knew how to manifest them perfectly!Total respect to all responsible for this unique and delicious masterpiece. :)

Let's be clear. This movie is terrible. It's a bad student film with a bigger budget. I would rather watch Jesus Christ the Musical sixty times than sit through this again.I should preface this review by saying that I adore Alan Rickman. Among actors, he is god. He is the sexiest guy that ever walked the boards. But Alan, not even you can save this dreck.The thing is, it's not just a film. It's a Film. With a Message. And the message is? Everyman (that's Alan) can learn to accept autistics as long as he has the root next door. Or something.I understand that the screenwriter based a lot of Sigourney's character on her own autistic son. Let this be a lesson for screenwriters everywhere: don't do family. It will suck.Specific objections. The daughter, who I'm sure was written to be zany and adorable, was in reality just irritating. The man looking for redemption and finding himself is old. The man sleeping with somebody and (ok, this might be construed a spoiler, but by the time it happens you'll be so over the movie that you'll be glad I rescued you) thinking that she is a prostitute and therefore handing her cash has also been done to death. The woman in question not being mightily offended and throwing him out has not. There is a reason for this.Finally, there is a terrible, terrible redemption scene, which made me vomit a little. How can I describe it without giving anything away ... say you had a pet dog, and a complete stranger was out walking your dog, and at some point in the journey he walked your dog under a bus.The bus driver turns up at your house, and THE GUY WHO WAS WALKING THE DOG FORGIVES HIM! 1/10, and that one point is only because I like opening scenes in aeroplanes.