Snow Cake (2007)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Guilt-ridden after a young woman hitching a ride with him dies in his car, a Brit visits and ends up befriending the woman's autistic mother in this Canadian drama starring Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver. The film gets off to a quirky start with great repartee between Rickman and Emily Hampshire (the girl who dies). The subsequent film never quite recaptures this quirkiness, but it is compelling all the same with both leads in good form. Rickman is saddled an especially interesting character as we learn that he was recently released for prison, apparently for murder. As the film progresses, we gradually learn more about him and come to really get under his skin. The same cannot really be said for Weaver's character though, who brings a slate of unanswered questions. Her pregnancy and how she (and her parents) raised her daughter are particularly shied over, but more perplexing is how little she seems to have been taught about how to fit in with neurotypical people. Many of her idiosyncrasies ring true of autistic persons, but given that we see that she has been taught to offer a beverage, it never quite seems right how she has not been taught other things. Whatever the case, this is a minor quibble in what is generally a touching story. The film is more about Rickman's character anyway, and it resonates well as a tale of coping with grief and putting one's life in perspective.

This is a film that will not age, at least not really. It is the second film on the subject of autism that has the status of a classic. The first one was Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man. This one centers on the same problem, autism, but for a woman, which is a minority case for this disease. The situation is slightly more complicated because it starts with the daughter of this autistic mother and we will only learn later in the film, close to the end, from her own parents themselves that at the time no one understood what actually happened though her father believes she must have been forced, which is in no way certain though, because the idea of an "experiment" might be just right. The man must then have taken advantage of the curiosity and of the experiment. The beginning of the film is dramatic because of a road accident in which a truck rams into a car and kills the daughter of Linda, the autistic mother, hitchhiking to visit her mother. Then the driver of the car goes to Linda's to try to explain her what happened and we discover in a few days spent there till the day after the funeral what kind of a life this autistic person is having in her community. And that's where we are surprised. She has a job in a supermarket in phase with her handicap: she puts merchandise on the racks, items that have to be set in rows and well aligned. Nothing difficult but something she can do without any problem.She is a very solitary person, meaning that she often closes herself onto herself and lives in her own world. She does not reject the outside world. She just retires inside her own mental world. In this Wawa town the neighbors know about her and they all take care of her, look after her, without ever invading her "privacy." She accepts that help though she would never solicit it, though she does for the garbage from the driver of the car in which her daughter was killed and she has invited to stay in her home for a few days. She does not always thank people for that help, though she does in her own way. It is true some people do not understand that and try to invade that personal field and bring her back into some "normal" behavior. But these are very fast put back in their places and told not to meddle. In a way, when everything is organized very clearly she can cope with life that becomes a routine and she can even cope with things that come unwanted and unannounced and that she integrates in her routine. That's the real interest of this film. To explore Linda's personal mental world, which we will never be able to know for sure since she does not explain and express that inner world, but we can explore it through what she does, her reactions, her actions, her own ways to cope with a situation that is maybe beyond her own comprehension, at least a comprehension of our type. The situation is serious since it is the death and funeral of her own daughter. She has a room entirely dedicated to her and she reacts in such a way that we know she knows it is important but she cannot mourn or grieve the way we do. She will just start dancing on a music her daughter liked and the film maker makes us understand at this moment she dances with her own daughter though she only dances with herself in our own eyes. Is it truly what happens? We cannot know.The only important thing is that autistic people must not be institutionalized but must be provided with living conditions that enable them to have an active, and even productive, life adapted to their own means, their own interests, their own capabilities. Of course it is the capabilities they can invest in our social and economic life, but that enables them to have the time and the autonomy necessary to live their mental life in some kind of freedom under the loving and attentive care of people around who are there to help, not to command, govern or control. One thing is missing in the film. Linda has a full calendar for the month of April with her schedule properly written day after day. We assume she can read but it is not said that she must have a social worker who helps her write down the schedule of the month. The film though assumes she can read and maybe write, but there is no visual indication that she can actually do it: she does not write and she does not read in the film. The film is already old and today we have discovered that computers can help tremendously because autistic people might be limited in oral and written communication, but they can be trained into computer literacy and that enables them to communicate a lot better, even to express their feelings and their experience, though we are not advanced enough to be able to say if it is true for all autistic people, though we can say that the earlier the better and in the US they diagnose the disease as soon as 6 months and start acting on it as soon as they have such a diagnosis.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

a good film. that is the first word. a nice one. that could be the second but far to be enough or precise. high acting, nice photographs. and flavor of a story who has, in same measure, force and sensibility. in fact, story of meetings, example of remarkable performance - Alan Rickman does a splendid role -, full of ambiguities who makes , in few scenes, not really credible the story but with charming life love spirit who can saves many. and that is fundamental thing. a film about poetry of every day events . romantic - in special manner - , seductive - for its snow taste - , interesting for the acting. not very different by films from same genre. but useful as small basic things of life.

Let's be clear. This movie is terrible. It's a bad student film with a bigger budget. I would rather watch Jesus Christ the Musical sixty times than sit through this again.I should preface this review by saying that I adore Alan Rickman. Among actors, he is god. He is the sexiest guy that ever walked the boards. But Alan, not even you can save this dreck.The thing is, it's not just a film. It's a Film. With a Message. And the message is? Everyman (that's Alan) can learn to accept autistics as long as he has the root next door. Or something.I understand that the screenwriter based a lot of Sigourney's character on her own autistic son. Let this be a lesson for screenwriters everywhere: don't do family. It will suck.Specific objections. The daughter, who I'm sure was written to be zany and adorable, was in reality just irritating. The man looking for redemption and finding himself is old. The man sleeping with somebody and (ok, this might be construed a spoiler, but by the time it happens you'll be so over the movie that you'll be glad I rescued you) thinking that she is a prostitute and therefore handing her cash has also been done to death. The woman in question not being mightily offended and throwing him out has not. There is a reason for this.Finally, there is a terrible, terrible redemption scene, which made me vomit a little. How can I describe it without giving anything away ... say you had a pet dog, and a complete stranger was out walking your dog, and at some point in the journey he walked your dog under a bus.The bus driver turns up at your house, and THE GUY WHO WAS WALKING THE DOG FORGIVES HIM! 1/10, and that one point is only because I like opening scenes in aeroplanes.