Fantastic movie!
Added 2/3/2010
I don't know why this movie is not far more highly regarded. The cinematography, the plotting, acting, direction & pacing are all outstanding. It plays like a story by Raymond Carver or Sam Shepard. I read Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men & I saw the Coen Brothers film version & thought highly of both, but to me this film, working in a similar vein & milieu, if far superior, less schematic & calculated, far more visceral, the paranoia from scene to scene is absolutely palpable.
In my opinion First Snow is the true heir to the very best film noirs of the 1940s. I guess some people had problems with Jimmy Stark'& obsession with a roadside prophet's mystic predictions but I've known plenty of folks who have been there & had weirder outcomes.
This is one of those films (like the best of the old film noirs) that just keeps moving ahead, dragging you along until it's over. You're not even aware you're watching a movie.
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Don't always trust fortune tellers
Added 12/5/2009
This guy gets his fortune told and spends the rest of the movie in a series of red herrings until it finally ends. A cast of mostly unknowns, though Perabo has a reputation. There's not much point to the whole thing. It's not very thrilling, either.
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A Terminal Road Awaits
Added 8/10/2009
Guy Pearce was great in Momento - but that was a Christopher Nolan film. First Snow reminds me a bit of Momento mixed with Insomnia but with markedly less dramatic results. Somehow, somewhere, I didn't quite connect with this 100 %.
The dust jacket of the DVD tells us why this is a compelling premise - Guy Pearce plays Jimmy, a man who's trying to fight against his own fate. And with no surprises, this is exactly what plays out with few surprises. Or rather, the twists aren't quite twisted enough, leaving the audience with an average noir-psychological drama aftertaste. First Snow almost but doesn't quite hit the mark.
This is not the easiest of genres to satisfy demanding viewers. The film won't quite give you the chills or make your head scratch - it's watchable but it won't have you on the edge of your seats.
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thoughtful, artful thriller
Added 6/26/2009
Does such a thing as Fate truly determine the course of our lives - or are human beings just naturally prone to look for patterns where none may actually exist? That is the metaphysical question raised by "First Snow," an extraordinarily well-made and engrossing psychological thriller starring Guy Pearce as a cynical traveling salesman whose life is turned upside down when a roadside fortuneteller (J.K. Simmons) predicts he will die before the first snow falls. Yet Jimmy Starks soon learns that being the target of such a dire forecast may not be an entirely bad thing, for it can, if used properly, serve to build character, liberate the soul, help one find inner peace and self-acceptance, and, ironically, give one a brand new lease on life (however short that life may turn out to be).
Adding to Jimmy's problems is the sudden return into his life of an ex-business partner whom Jimmy sold up the river a few years back. Jimmy is suddenly forced to live his life on a two-way track: running from perceived threats while, at the same time, learning to embrace his Sword of Damacles fate.
In this beautifully paced and exquisitely shot film, director Mark Fergus makes the high desert setting an integral part of the movie`s otherworldly mood and tone. Fergus' screenplay - co-written with Hawk Ostby - is shot through with a tremendous sense of foreboding and menace, while Cliff Martinez' haunting score greatly enhances that effect.
Pearce is riveting as a man who finds himself simultaneously contending with the wildly disparate feelings of fear, desperation, resignation and hope. No one plays these kinds of brooding characters better than Pearce and he is clearly at the top of his game here. He gets fine support from the likes of Rick Gonzalez, William Fichtner and Piper Perabo as the people Jimmy makes amends to as he prepares himself for his preordained date with destiny.
Unfortunately, as with most films of this type, the buildup is ultimately more satisfying than the follow-through. Yet, even though the ending is a trifle flatfooted compared to the rest of the story, the movie, as a whole, is so rich in atmosphere and performance that you'll be glad you took the journey.
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Brooding and atmospheric story
Added 2/26/2009
A moody, paranoid tale. When a traveling salesman has car trouble in a small town, he entertains himself by getting a psychic reading. As the reading begins to come true, the salesman frantically tries to avoid the fate that was predicted.
This story is small in scale, but rich in texture and performances. Can a man change his destiny before the First Snow?
If you like intimate, character driven thrillers, this is a nice little picture. I've been a fan of Guy Pearce's since Memento, and he delivers again in this film.
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