‘Snow Angels’ an Essential Examination of Yin, Yang in Our Vulnerable Lives

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:50:50 -0700

CHICAGO – Staying sane is truly an edge-of-the-knife proposition. We are all the sum of our past environments, our present circumstances and our future worries. The sludge that is generated by such a mixture becomes the psyche that’s ready to interact with other psyches we deem important or are forced to be around through family or commerce.

Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale in “Snow Angels”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Director David Gordon Green inspects the tipping point of this interaction in the unsparing new film “Snow Angels”.

Arthur (Michael Angarano) is the teenager who walks through all the lives of this multi-storied road. His old babysitter, Annie (Kate Beckinsale), is amid a separation from her husband, Glenn (Sam Rockwell), who has attempted suicide because of the relationship’s fallout.

Annie is also having an affair with her co-worker’s husband (Nicky Katt).

Meanwhile, Arthur’s dad (Griffin Dunne) decides he needs some space. The conflict of the potential break up with Arthur’s mother challenges the dynamics within the family. When Arthur meets Lila (Olivia Thirlby), though, the togetherness they develop helps to get him through difficult times.

When Annie and Glenn’s daughter suddenly disappears, the whole community – including Arthur and his parents – are about to experience a reaction to the subsequent turn of events in divergent and tragic ways.

Michael Angarano in “Snow Angels”.
Photo credit: IMDb

At first, I thought Beckinsale’s casting in this film was a mistake. She was too ultra glamorous amid such lower middle-class surroundings. She understood the wounds of her character, though, in trying to accommodate her slipping down husband and exposed herself in ways a lesser actor wouldn’t have explored.

Her scenes in the climax of the film had a resignation that was vitally real.

Sam Rockwell – an underrated actor who never seems to get the recognition he deserves – is astounding as Glenn.

Relying on the various tics of the person on the edge of a nervous breakdown, he filters born-again Christianity, substance abuse and narcissism through his brutal characterization. Though I didn’t know where he was going, I wished he wouldn’t get there.

Kate Beckinsale in “Snow Angels”.
Photo credit: IMDb

There’s a desperation of people trapped within their situation because the community seems to be as dead as some of its souls.

Even in the upper middle-class enclave of Arthur and his family, there’s a projected phoniness of “doing the right thing” especially as his mother exposes her husband’s selfishness after he leaves.

In contrast with the lower-class problems that are brewing, it emphasizes the commonality in all humans when faced with mortality.

There are bright spots. Olivia Thirlby (Ellen Page’s best friend in 2007’s acclaimed “Juno”) channels an Anne Hathaway-like brightness in her eccentric, photograph-taking teen goddess. Arthur – for all his dread – is most likely to survive intact because he’s a seeker. It’s no wonder the rest of the characters seem to gravitate to him.

This is an essential examination of dreams deferred through a darkness that lies dormant in the yin and yang of our vulnerable lives. While it’s a difficult film to absorb, it’s always absorbing. We are all terminal cases.

“Snow Angels” opened in Chicago on March 21, 2008 and limited U.S. theaters on March 7, 2008.

Click here for our full “Snow Angels” image gallery!

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

Akin to ‘Match Point,’ Woody Allen’s ‘Cassandra’s Dream’ Expressly Hitchcockian

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:35:06 -0700

CHICAGO – Woody Allen – the most prolific American writer/director of the last quarter century – has a desire for a particular expression in this last part of his epic career.

For the “lion in winter” phase, Allen is exploring topics of morality and behavior that are directly connected to the deadly sins. “Cassandra’s Dream” – Allen’s third film in a row set in London – this time shines a light on the struggling middle class and the desperate nature of having to rely on outside wealth to compensate their lifestyle.

Ewan McGregor for “Cassandra’s Dream” on Sept. 11, 2007.
Photo credit: WireImage.com

Colin Ferrell and Ewan McGregor portray brothers Terry and Ian: blood relatives who dream of a more upscale life.

Trapped in menial jobs, they each struggle to tamper their damaging habits. Terry has a problem gambling addiction and Ian obsesses over a business deal that might bring him success.

The situation is further complicated when Ian falls in love with Kate (Sally Hawkins): a beautiful actress whose desire to move up in the world is as strong as the brother’s.

When a wealthy uncle (Tom Wilkinson) offers Terry and Ian everything they want in exchange for a “job” they must do for him, the line that is crossed changes both lives and plunges the closely bonded brothers into a moral dilemma that alters everything around them.

Woody Allen for “Cassandra’s Dream”
on Sept. 2, 2007.
Photo credit: WireImage.com

Like Allen’s previous film “Match Point” in 2005, which has a similar subject, “Cassandra’s Dream” explores the human frailties within the abject desire to be wealthy and successful. While it is the fear of losing out that propels each of the crimes in the two films, the consequences and vulnerabilities that are exposed belie a deeper loss of humanity.

Allen’s style here is expressly Hitchcockian. The tensions mounted and the ability of the narrative to focus on particular elements that end up meaning nothing (which Alfred Hitchcock called the “MacGuffin”) put this film in league with the master of suspense.

With Allen exploring deeper psychological ramifications within the moral transgressions, there is more opportunity for self-inflicted punishment.

Allen’s choice of actors gets instinctually stronger as he appears less in his own films. Ferrell is spot on as Terry and has all tics and bad habits intact. He embodies a middle-class garage mechanic in love with his loyal girlfriend and his family. He is a flawed black sleep – but a moral one – with a clear perspective on right and wrong.

Sally Hawkins is a revelation in her first major role as the actress Kate – looking ironically like a more beautiful Kate Beckinsale (if that is possible) – but with a strength in characterization that is both subtle and chilled.

The similarity to “Match Point” is the main weakness of “Cassandra’s Dream”. While there is a feeling of déjà vu in viewing both stories, there is enough understated differences to create a distinctive landscape or at the very least a strong variation on the same theme. For Woody Allen, even mental masturbation is filmmaking for someone he loves.

“Cassandra’s Dream” opened on Jan. 18, 2008.

Click here for our full “Cassandra’s Dream” image gallery!

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com