"Snow Cake"

I recently stumbled across another one of those movies, that some how flew under the radar completely. I never saw a preview for it in the movies, I didn’t see any fan fair when it was released on DVD, but when my brother brought it home, and mentioned it had Sigourney Weaver in it, I figured what the heck and gave it a look.

Be warned, this is the only review I have ever posted that DOES HAVE A SPOILER.

“Snow Cake.” Is about an Autistic mother (Linda Freeman) who lives by herself. While autistic, she can function in a normal enough fashion to be left on her own. Emily Hampshire (Vivienne Freeman) plays the daughter of Linda, and is hitch hiking her way back to the small Canadian town she grew up in with her mother. Trying to find her next ride, Alex Hughes (played by Alan Rickman) comes into the story.

(Here comes the spoiler part. It really is not that big of a deal, and does not ruin the movie if you know this part.) Alex and Vivienne start their strange trek together, but tragedy strikes out of the blue, when they are both involved in a car crash. Vivienne dies, but Alex walks away with only scratches. Feeling a huge sense of guilt, Alex continues to Vivienne’s house to personally tell her mother of the tragic event. I will leave the rest of the story so as to not spoil anything else, but this strange and some times uncomfortable story is played out with some masterful acting by all parties.

As I got my first few minutes of watching Sigourney play an autistic adult, I honestly did not buy into it at all, but finally it started to sink in. Once my brain finally let go, and accepted her as the autistic person she was playing, her character just soared. There have been many actors over the decades that have taken on the ridiculously hard role of playing a mentally handicapped person, and with a few exceptions, most have been forgettable but Sigourney really stood out in this film.

Director Marc Evans takes this tragic, yet some times funny story, and brings it to life in very interesting fashion. The interaction between Rickman and Weaver is truly special, and the sadness between the death of Linda’s daughter and the strangeness of her reaction to this life changing event is filmed in way that you would not expect. While there was nothing in particular that was special in the way of set location, or the actual sets they filmed on, the movie still had a nice look to it when all was said and done. Let the watcher beware, this is not a typical Saturday night thriller you might normally rent, but if you appreciate true acting in any way then I recommend this film.

My rating for this movie is 8.00 out of 10.00