Snow Angels

Theatrical Release Date: 2008 03 07 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 085391187325

Studio: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Drug Content]

Summary: Director/screenwriter David Gordon Green adapts Stewart O'Nan's popular novel to the screen in this feature, which tells the parallel tales of a teenager named Arthur (Michael Angarano) and his onetime babysitter Annie (Kate Beckinsale) -- whose turbulent relationship with her estranged husband, Glenn (Sam Rockwell), leads the small-town waitress down a troubled path. Arthur is a high-school student from a dysfunctional family, and does everything in his power to avoid hanging around the house while mom and dad quarrel. When he's not practicing his trombone and performing with the high-school marching band, Arthur can usually be found bussing tables at the local Chinese restaurant and flirting with older waitress Annie. Annie used to be Arthur's babysitter, and is currently struggling to separate from her former high-school sweetheart, Glenn. But being a single mother isn't easy, especially since the troubled Glenn wants nothing more than to clean up his act and reunite his family. Back at school, Arthur and pretty classmate Lila (Olivia Thirlby) have been bonding over their mutual love for all things geeky. Though the casual friendship shows promise of evolving into something more when Lila expresses her true feelings for Arthur, he can't help but becoming distracted by his chaotic family life: his father is moving out of the family home, and his mother is doing everything in her power to maintain some semblance of normalcy. Realizing that happiness is fleeting as his family becomes shattered and Annie experiences a series of distressing encounters with Glenn, Arthur gradually begins to fall for Lisa despite his growing cynicism concerning long-term relationships. Later, on a cold winter morning, Glenn and Annie's past catches up with them in a blinding flash, and the lives of everyone they know are suddenly and irrevocably changed. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Film Presented – Miami International Film Festival Film Presented – Florida Film Festival Best Independent Film – National Board of Review

Snow Angels

Format: DVD

Release Date: 09/16/2008

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 107 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1, Side A -- Snow Angels [WS]
1. Practice Credits [4:02]
2. Half There [5:28]
3. Departures [3:55]
4. Wish You Were Happy [4:03]
5. Prayer and Affair [4:30]
6. Never Lose That Smell [4:26]
7. Glenn's Trying [3:50]
8. My Life's a Spell [4:03]
9. Insecure [4:46]
10. Out of Control [4:55]
11. That's My House! [3:03]
12. Observant [3:40]
13. Missing [3:19]
14. Capable Suspect [2:18]
15. Meet Halfway [2:27]
16. Checking Out the Ice [3:27]
17. Shared Sorrow [4:37]
18. Forgiveness [5:24]
19. Take Care of Myself [1:57]
20. Dancing the Night Away [2:35]
21. Don't You Listen? [5:02]
22. Bittersweet Memories [3:24]
23. Armed and Aching [5:49]
24. Washing of Feet [5:08]
25. Ready to Die [3:36]
26. Nice Picture [3:13]
27. End Credits [3:54]
Disc #1, Side B -- Snow Angels [FS]
1. Practice Credits [4:02]
2. Half There [5:28]
3. Departures [3:55]
4. Wish You Were Happy [4:03]
5. Prayer and Affair [4:30]
6. Never Lose That Smell [4:26]
7. Glenn's Trying [3:50]
8. My Life's a Spell [4:03]
9. Insecure [4:46]
10. Out of Control [4:55]
11. That's My House! [3:03]
12. Observant [3:40]
13. Missing [3:19]
14. Capable Suspect [2:18]
15. Meet Halfway [2:27]
16. Checking Out the Ice [3:27]
17. Shared Sorrow [4:37]
18. Forgiveness [5:24]
19. Take Care of Myself [1:57]
20. Dancing the Night Away [2:35]
21. Don't You Listen? [5:02]
22. Bittersweet Memories [3:24]
23. Armed and Aching [5:49]
24. Washing of Feet [5:08]
25. Ready to Die [3:36]
26. Nice Picture [3:13]
27. End Credits [3:54]

Derek Armstrong

David Gordon Green's two 2008 releases -- Snow Angels and Pineapple Express -- couldn't be more different, sharing only a scene where two characters smoke pot. Neither film fully succeeds, but Snow Angels comes up a lot shorter. The film is an exercise in intentional de-glamorization. In Green's effort to promote realism, everything in this small wintry town is excessively scruffy. It's literally a warts-and-all approach -- most characters have a facial blemish, and only the unavoidably elegant Kate Beckinsale stands out from a sea of overgrown beards, crooked glasses and bad haircuts. (She's also the one actor who doesn't ring true). Snow Angels starts out like an honest portrayal of the hardships and relationship failings of blue-collar life, but quickly morphs into an unremitting tragedy. Every glimmer of hope is dashed shortly after it flickers into existence, as viewers are left trying to puzzle together the lessons of Green's film. His particular brand of masochism was also on display in the 2003 downer All the Real Girls, where his problem was the same: he's too committed to the idea that events don't always have meaning or a silver lining. But that's what determines whether a story is even worth telling in the first place, and helps us locate the sympathetic characters. Beckinsale's Annie is the most difficult in this last sense. She's supposed to occupy the righteous position of being harassed by her estranged husband (an agonized Sam Rockwell), but she treats people so poorly (most egregiously her young daughter) that she doesn't deserve an ounce of compassion. Green does try to leaven the proceedings with a love story between two gawky teenagers (Michael Angarano and Olivia Thirlby), but it's not a clear thematic complement to the main story, and is lacking what the rest of the film has in spades: conflict. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Cast and Crew: Paul Miller  Producer 
Camille Taylor  Producer 
David Gordon Green  Director 
David Gordon Green  Screenwriter 
Lisa Muskat  Producer 
David Wingo  Composer (Music Score) 
Dan Lindau  Producer 
Jeanne Donovan-Fisher  Executive Producer 
Jeff McIlwain  Composer (Music Score) 
Kate Beckinsale  Actor 
Sam Rockwell  Actor 
Michael Angarano  Actor 
Jeanetta Arnette  Actor 
Griffin Dunne  Actor 
Nicky Katt  Actor 
Tom Noonan  Actor 
Connor Paolo  Actor 
Amy Sedaris  Actor 
Olivia Thirlby  Actor 
Grace Hudson  Actor 

Country: USA