Snow Angels

One of the biggest disappointments of the movie summer for me was Pineapple Express, the stoner comedy directed by lo-fi auteur David Gordon Green which turned out to be little more than another Judd Apatow comedy filled with Seth Rogen's smug mugging (smugging?). When directors who have proven themselves already enter the studio system it's heartening to think that multiplex fare may get a little better, but that's rarely the case. I haven't seen Nights in Rodanthe, helmed by celebrated theater director George C. Wolfe, but I'm guessing it's no Angels in America. Fans of DGG's earlier films (George Washington, All The Real Girls) will feel more at home with Snow Angels, the drama he released earlier this year which is now out on DVD.

Based on the novel by Stewart O'Nan, Snow Angels is the first Green film to be set outside the American South. The novel takes place in Pennsylvania but the film's setting is never specified, it could just as easily be New England or Canada. Arthur (Michael Angarano) is a teenager whose father (Griffin Dunne) has just moved out due to a midlife crisis and who doesn't know what to do with is attraction for the funky new girl in school Lila (Olivia Thirlby). Arthur's former babysitter and current co-worker Annie (Kate Beckinsale) is trying to hang on to a life that includes a young daughter and a troubled estranged husband named Glen (Sam Rockwell) who has just reentered her life. The vague back story we get about Glenn involves a suicide attempt, a conversion to Christianity, and some kind of judicial mandate to stay away from Annie and their daughter. (People keep telling him, "You're not supposed to be here.") I've never paid much attention to Sam Rockwell; his Zaphod in Hitchhiker's Guide was agreeably silly but otherwise he's been saddled with a career as the villain or snarky second lead. Rockwell must have leapt on this role like a wild animal; the chance to play a character with a history and some emotional shading doesn't come along every day. Beckinsale is believably beaten down but still gives Annie flashes of an old spark. Annie semi-flirts with Arthur in the kitchen where they work, recalling her old babysitting days and telling him "I totally used to give you baths."

I think there are probably one too many movies going on inside of Snow Angels, which is disappointing since both of them are so good. The Lila and Arthur stuff is very well played by Angarano and the much-hyped Thirlby, it's this part of the movie that hews closest to Green's earlier films since Arthur is just beginning to discover the world of love, loss, responsibility, and consequences the way that Paul Schneider's character does in All The Real Girls. The Annie-Glenn story is a bit tougher going since as good as Rockwell and Beckinsale both are it's very difficult to imagine their earlier life together. Glenn is an insecure and angry mess whose faith brings him almost no comfort; Benicio del Toro's character from 21 Grams would have punched him in the face. (The bizarre dance Glenn does with two drunks late in the film is as economical a scene of dissolution as I've ever seen) The conclusion, which trips from tragedy to tragedy, feels imposed rather than earned. As a DGG fan I'm still high on Snow Angels despite its slightly overstuffed feeling. Green has moved beyond a neo-Terrence Malick style of the earlier films and more than capably pulled off a realistic drama. It looks like Green will be busy with more than a few writing and directing projects in years to come; following the maturation of this director should provide enough rewards to outweigh the missteps.