A UK-Canadian co-production, partially financed by Steve Coogan and Henry Normal's Baby Cow Productions, Snow Cake is an unusual film with an open, expansive, and charming view of humanity.
The stellar cast – including Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Carrie-Anne Moss – were presumably attracted by the clever, well observed script.
Set in Wawa, Canada, stuffy Englishman Alex Hughes (Alan Rickman) reluctantly gives a lift to a teenage hitch-hiker, Vivienne. Her outgoing, free-spirited nature is in sharp contrast to his reserved character – although he does confess to having been just released from prison for killing a man.
In the only truly shocking moment of the film, Alex's car is hit by a truck, killing Vivienne. Guilt-wracked, Alex decides to visit her mother Linda (Sigourney Weaver) to apologise for his involvement.
He is surprised to find that she is severely autistic and seemingly unconcerned about her daughter's death. Inviting him to stay with her until Tuesday ("That's the day when the trash men come. I don't do trash,") he sets about organising the funeral and coping with her strange, yet endearingly naïve habits. Along the way he has a fling with neighbour Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss) and exposes a few of his inner demons.
Weaver's portrayal of autism could have easily let the film down, but a few minutes after her introduction these fears are proved groundless. We are never given the whys and wherefores of Linda's condition, and we don't need them. She is childlike, joyful, and full of wonder; her character more interested in eating snow and obsessively cleaning her kitchen ("Three times when I use it and three times when I don't,") than mourning her daughter. Weaver trained with an autistic adult for the role, and it shows.
What's interesting is that all the central characters display selfishness to one degree or another; Maggie even warning Alex upfront of it. Linda likes people if they are of use to her or if they do the things she likes. Alex wallows in his misery and cynical mystique (although his chafing sarcasm can be occasionally hilarious), and Maggie invites physical and emotional intimacy so she can pilfer something she finds intriguing from Alex.
The only unselfish character is the deceased Vivienne, who hitches lifts with lonely looking people because "they have the most interesting stories to tell".
Marc Evans' direction is unshowy and quiet, the tone sitting somewhere alongside Ang Lee's The Ice Storm (which also starred Weaver), although Evans doesn't quite have Lee's finesse. First time screenwriter Angela Pell keeps things light despite some potentially heavy subject matter, with a sweet comedic flair bubbling throughout.
Snow Cake is non-judgemental, intimate and quite lovely. It is a gentle, unassuming film which offers no answers but poses lots of delicate questions.
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