Olympic Interlude Has Ended (hopefully!)

I know I should be spending more time on blog.  Writing things that about 8 people will read.   However I must admit the Winter Olympics had taken over most of my non-radio free time.

Now the Olympics are over and hopefully I will get back to writing meaningless things.  It’s what I was born to do.

DVD #4: First Snow

Really I shouldn’t be doing this.

I should be commenting on the Academy Award nominations or on Miramax closing, and while I do have things to say on both of those subjects I am not saying them now.  Instead it’s back to the DVD list.

For round four I went with First Snow.  Here we have (another on the list I had not seen) a film starring Guy Pearce.   I figured it had to be at least decent since Pearce is one of the best actors we have out there.   As it turns out it’s a bit better than that.

The story concerns Pearce’s character, a salesman named Jimmy, who runs into a psychic who tells him that he’s not going to live very long.  In fact he’ll be dead by the first snow.   How ominous! 

At first Jimmy scoffs at the psychic, but when other predictions he made come true Jimmy is convinced that he’s doomed.  There’s no indication as to how he’s going die, just that it’s going to happen. 

Naturally his response to this is extreme.  Screw going to work, I’m going on the lam!   And he hasn’t even committed a crime.  Though he certainly did commit one in his past.   And as it turns out that past is coming back to haunt him as an old friend Jimmy may or may not have sold out is fresh from prison and looking to reconnect.

First Snow is a pretty interesting and suspenseful movie.  It builds slowly but never gets to a fever pitch.  That’s to its benefit and its detriment.   Not having a going bananas moment for Pearce would have improved this film greatly and ensured that you remembered it long after it’s over.  That’s not to say Pearce doesn’t going a bit mad.  He certainly does.  And while it’s good, it is that missing element that is keeping it from being great.

There’s an good supporting cast here that pretty much does nothing.  William Fichtner is a fellow salesman and Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly? Yes!) both have the task of telling Pearce to stop acting so crazy.  Fairly standard stuff. 

I remember seeing the trailer for First Snow when it came out in 2007, but I don’t remember it ever being out.   A check at boxofficemojo.com tells why.   It never got a wider release of more than 33 screens. 

It’s too bad because, while not spectacular, First Snow deserved a better fate as movie.  Instead it seems to have gotten one that’s just as grave as Jimmy’s future.

And just for the record, the DVD list is now at 2-2.