Try a Slice of Cake
Quietly spoken and typically reserved Alex Hughes (Alan Rickman) has just come out of prison for killing someone and is now making his way to Winnipeg to see a friend. But disaster strikes along the way when having been persuaded by he fun loving Vivienne Freeman (Emily Hampshire) to give her a ride to her mum's they are involved in a car crash and Vivienne is killed. Feeling guilt Alex goes to see Vivienne's mother Linda (Sigourney Weaver) and on meeting her realises she a highly functional autistic woman who insists he stays till garbage day which is also the day of the funeral which he agrees to arrange. Alex's stay ends up an unusual one and not just because of Linda's unique ways but also the friends he makes such as her neighbour Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss).
Generally I like movies with have a story arc; a clear beginning, middle and end which tell a story and whilst technically "Snow Cake" has those things it isn't normal and to be honest doesn't feel like it really has an end. Instead what "Snow Cake" comes across as is a moment in time, a few days where we observe the life of Alex in a very unusual situation having been involved in a car crash which killed a woman. Now it is incredibly hard to explain what actually goes on in "Snow Cake" because on one hand we have Alex becoming close to Maggie whilst we have Linda's autism and with it her ways from eating snow to no one going in her kitchen and much more. As I write that I know it sounds relatively ordinary but it is far from it.
The reason being is that "Snow Cake" has mesmerising performances with the trio of Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss all at their best whilst in the short time Emily Hampshire is in the movie makes a huge impact. Now in truth the performance which you feel you should write about as a reviewer is Sigourney Weaver's as she is playing Linda and it is fascinating delivering this mixture of being amusing, being quirky but also being logical which really opens your eyes to Linda's black and white world. When Alex is feeling guilty and she simply says something like "did you mean to kill her" it is so revealing of Linda's thought process that it is fantastic and often amusing such as when she tells Alex not to walk the dog in her snow.
But as I said it is all three actors who make "Snow Cake" and Rickman delivers a masterful performance of a reserved Englishman bought out of his shell by these new experiences, growing as a person because of them. And as for Carrie-Anne Moss, well all I am going to say is she delivers a mixture of come to bed eyes with so much warmth that she makes you melt.
What this all boils down to is that "Snow Cake" is a movie which is a little outside of the box and as such it isn't going to be everyone's tastes especially with it being more about the characters. But for those who appreciate performance those of Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss in this are truly captivating.
