In the first scene of director David Gordon Green's compassionate and elegant Snow Angels, the coach berates the school's marching band for being out of tune while practicing their version of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer." The coach gives a speech about how the band members are just going through the motions. They lack the passion necessary for performing music; their minds are on other things. They need to be passionate and put in their all in order to correctly play music. "Do you have a sledgehammer in your heart?," the teacher of the marching band asks the band members. "I have a sledgehammer in my heart, do you?"
This first scene seems to echo one of the main themes of Snow Angels - that sometimes, acting based on passion does feel like a sledgehammer and can be destructive. This is most clearly seen with the character of Glenn, a little overplayed by Sam Rockwell, the only character whose actions seem a little forced. He feels passionately for his ex-wife, and because of this over-encompassing feeling, is destructive to both himself and his wife Annie, excellently played by Kate Beckinsale.
Destruction done due to uncontrolled emotions is one of the many themes which populate the film. Green directs the film with a sure hand and sympathy for his characters. The plot of Snow Angels is a simple one that we've seen many times before, how people act in response to grief. What makes Snow Angels worth seeing isn't the plot, but the characters. Every character in the film is human, complex and three-dimensional. Even Glenn, who acts in the most destructive ways, isn't a bad person; he's a person who acts badly. Glenn battles his conscience and inflicts just as much pain on himself as he does on others.
There are no villains or heroes in the film. Just people, with both pros and cons. Seeing a character fighting his inner demons and struggling for goodness makes for a more interesting film than having people who act like Superman and Darth Vader. Green understands this, which is why Snow Angles is filled with complex characters that never shed their human skin and heart, no matter how cruel their actions become. Annie is a great mother in one scene, and commits adultery (and later regrets it) in the next scene.
The characters, Glenn, Annie, Arthur, Lila, Barb and Nate, are all people we can identify and sympathize with. Green never judges his characters, but simply allows them to act, both in realistic manners and, in the case of Glenn, in ways that might be hard for the audience to fully swallow.
The plot of the film isn't really that great or believable, but the acting is so great and the characters are so real that even when the plot unfolds in predictable and unlikely ways, it hardly matters. The plot is nothing special and isn't very convincing, but the characters are. If the trade-off was having three-dimensional characters, I would eschew a plot any day. There are a lot more films that have a great plot than have realistic and human people. Certain plot strands might seem a bit forced and predictable, but the characters don't. The acting from everyone involved, especially by Kate Beckinsale, Michael Angarano and Olivia Thirlby is fantastic. Annie is such a real and lovable character that the audience is devastated by her pain.
You'll feel for these characters, so much so that you'll want to invite them to your house for tea and biscuits. What makes for a good drama is not simply having characters suffer, but having characters one can care about.
Snow Angels is certainly worth your time. If plot is all you care about, then look elsewhere. But if you want to see a moving drama filled with realistic interactions between fully-realized characters, great acting from everyone involved and passionate directing, which respects its subjects, Snow Angels is worth checking out.
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