Sam Rockwell as Glenn Marchand and Kate Beckinsale as Annie Marchand in director David Gordon Green's ''Snow Angels.'' (Courtesy photo)

By Bob Polunsky
Guest Columnist

“Snow Angels” has confused adults meddling in each other’s lives, levelheaded teenagers enjoying life together and three violent murders.

The romantic scenes leave little to your imagination, and the violent murders are heard but not seen. To the director’s credit, the murder scenes make your imagination work overtime. Once you grasp the full impact of these scenes, you will understand how the adult characters established a mood of pending doom for themselves.

Writer-director David Gordon Green gets strong, vital performances out of his actors. They have distinctive personalities, but you probably won’t like any of them because they are too self-involved. At the same time, you feel their pain simply because they are still fellow human beings.

Annie and Glenn Marchand (Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale) dissolved their marriage. Glenn is bitter because Annie limits his visits with their 4-year-old daughter, Tara (Grace Hudson). He begs Annie to take him back, but she refuses.

She finds sympathetic companionship instead with a married man (Nicky Katt) who happens to be married to her best friend, Barb (Amy Sedaris).

“Snow Angels” was filmed in Nova Scotia, and the frozen countryside reminds us of the coldness of these characters when they try vainly to find a life partner.

The background music is slight, but it punctuates the coldness of their personalities with somber chords that fade away instead of turning into a concert of sounds. You may not even notice the background music. But you’ll feel it as strongly as you feel the pain the characters experience.

On the lighter side, teenaged Arthur Parkinson (Michael Angarano) is smitten with teenaged Lila (Olivia Thirlby) and egged on by his nerdy friend, Warren (Connor Paolo). Arthur goes to his father for advice, but Dad (Griffin Dunne) is too involved in his extra-marital affairs to be bothered.

Arthur has to learn about the facts of life and love strictly on his own, and he develops a sensitivity that becomes the film’s human touch. He also resolves the story when he discovers a murder that pits the adult characters against each other. It is one of the three violent deaths that lead to the film’s
resolution.

The bulk of the story revolves around Sam Rockwell’s character. His near-hysterics and hyperactive personality are signals of a nervous collapse, and they set the tone for the other adult characters.

By contrast, teenaged lovers Arthur and Lila accept each other at face value and are more likely to have a satisfying future. The plot is involved, but the performances make the movie easy to follow, and there isn’t a dull moment in it.

Studio rating: R for sexuality and violence
Bob says: “Heavy but not heavy handed”
3 Stars