Snow Cake: Magic from Canada

Reviewer: James Van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****½

In terms of providing the world with benign movies--kind, compassionate and benevolent--I would call Canada the champ. From Don McKellar's Last Night (the most benign of all the films about the end of the world) to one of the great television series (Slings & Arrows) from Wilby Wonderful to Falling Angels and so many more, our neighbor to the north insists on showing us that normal life comes with enough major problems that we humans don't really need to make things worse. Forget the serial killers and the ultra-violence: Simply dealing with each other and what life throws us is enough of a challenge. Snow Cake, the near-magical movie from Marc Evans (who, back in 2002 gave us--on a budget of about $1.98--one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen, My Little Eye) and writer Angela Pell, is the latest in a long string of humble Canuck wizardry.

From the slightly unusual and lovely pastel color that fills the screen for the opening (and closing) credits to the simple maneuvering that brings together some highly disparate characters, almost everything works. And against such odds! Right at the start, two characters appear to "meet cute." But no: their dialog is so quirky, funny and real that we're hooked. Young actress Emily Hampshire gives a glowing and rich performance as she joyfully bounces off the quietly ironic stance of Alan Rickman (in one of his best roles to date). Ms Hampshire has a relatively small amount of screen time and quickly disappears, but she is so indelible that she anchors the entire film.

As is often the case, the less you know going into this movie, the better off you will be in terms of surprises in store. Sigourney Weaver, no slouch in the acting category, just about outdoes herself in a role that could easily have done her in. To call her performance "real" is, I think, all the praise this fine actress would want for her work in a most unusual role. And for those of us who've wondered why, after The Matrix and Memento, Carrie-Anne Moss never really registered, don't fret. Ms Moss is back, and won the Canadian equivalent of an Academy Award, The Genie, for her trouble. The supporting cast is fine, too, with even a charming surprise visit from two favorite characters from Slings & Arrows.

That this film, which could easily have become sentimental, does not is due both to the general level of writing and direction and to the honest and disciplined conception of Weaver's character. She often speaks unadorned truth, which can be difficult to accept. We don't get to hear this that often, in film or in life, because most of us indulge in sentimentality to get us through. Evans, Pell and their fine cast allow us to hear truth, feel its pain and experience its joy in a way that is genuinely non-judgmental. As you may have gathered, Snow Cake is anything but an ordinary movie experience.