.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

The football team is practicing on the near frozen winter ground while the school band is unenthusiastically working on their set under the guidance of their headstrong musical coach when two gunshots can be heard in the distance.

This is the opening scene for Snow Angels, a film that was overlooked by the public when theatrically released but should not be missed now that it has reached our DVD shelves.

From the shocking and attention grabbing opening, Snow Angels slows the pace down to a melodramatic crawl. We follow the lives of three particular individuals, a teenager named Arthur (Michael Angarano), an alcoholic trying his best to convert his life to a religious power named Glenn (Sam Rockwell) and Annie (Kate Beckinsale), his ex-wife. After the beginning sequence, it is unclear as to how these lives will intertwine and director David Gordon Green (George Washington, All The Real Girls) keeps the story at the forefront and the pacing at barely a heartbeat as we progress through the engrossing plot.

Where forwarding thinking audiences might think that the gunshot at the beginning of the film might be the central point to which the rest of the film will engulf, it instead takes a turn into character studies of hurt and broken relationships - all which are personified when the daughter of Glenn and Annie goes missing one cold winters morning. As the search for the child involves the entire town, the result of the search leaves many of the main characters dealing with scenarios far above their emotional and mental capabilities.

There is no build up leading to the revelation of the gunshots heard at the school in the opening chapter. If there is one thing that David Gordon Green is exceptional at it is letting his characters develop and he is in no rush in Snow Angels to work towards an easy conclusion. Instead, he keeps the story progressing with interesting subplots (Annie's affair, Glenn's new job) while building upon the incredibly complex characters that are played as simple folk by the exceptional cast.

When the gun is revealed in the hands of the most likely of characters, there is no surprise, but there is no small regret either. This isn't a film by M. Night where we try and figure out the ending and expect any kind of twists. Snow Angels has a linear plot that leads to the destruction of human souls and lives in a way that is far more believable that most other dramas put on screen by more credible productions.

For all the kudos that can be bestowed upon the director and the screenwriters, it is Rockwell and Beckinsale that provide the bravo performances that make this melodrama believable. When Glenn shows up at Beckinsale's house and under the threat of gunfire washes her feet, it is intentionally references the obvious Biblical references leading to the disturbing conclusion.

Snow Angels is not exactly a date movie. The film is a downer in the true meaning of the word. The characters and their situations will challenge you, but if you involve yourselves in their lives, you will walk away from the screening having viewed a film that you can honestly say you don't get to see all that often from the Hollywood producing machines.