Snow Cake 2006

John Hartl, Seattle Times: It's essentially a vehicle for a dedicated cast, but occasionally it's more than that. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: For every three eye-roll-worthy scenes, Snow Cake offers one that's genuinely funny or moving. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Overly forced, a shade too whimsical, but filling a void other words and other movies haven't the nerve or errant taste to confront. Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: Modest but well wrought and witty, Snow Cake is full of unexpected moments and clever observations and, despite a sparse quality, makes a good case for the idea that you're never too late, or too far gone, to connect with or understand others. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: People who are different are magical! That's the takeaway lesson from Snow Cake, an awfully tidy, infernally sparkly study in skewed blessings, made manifest by Committed Acting from Sigourney Weaver. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: Marc Evans' indie drama, from a script by Angels Pell (who has an autistic son), keeps sidling up to the brink of mawkishness, then pulling back so nicely into Weaver's rich, hard-headed evocation of Linda's limitations. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: It is Weaver -- whom director Marc Evans uses for maximum shmaltz -- who is the shiny object dangled before our eyes. And she is certainly something to watch. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Snowcake features one smart, pared-down performance. Unfortunately it's trapped in a stupid, overcrowded story. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Moving but at times overearnest. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: A heartfelt but utterly predictable indie drama. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Snow Cake suffers from the same faults that plague most Canadian films: It drones itself to death with the pace of a drunken ant, and the ending takes longer than to arrive than Christmas morning. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: This, apparently, is the kind of stretch our contemporary great actresses have to look forward to as they near 60. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Snow Cake is painful slogging. The plot is awkwardly contrived. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Snow Cake is a small movie in the best sense. It's character-focused, precise in its arc and just roomy enough to let its performers breathe and expand at the languid pace the material demands. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: Screenwriter Angela Pell clearly has something to say about the way autism brings clear-sighted lack of prejudice and a childlike innocence, albeit often masked by seemingly irrational needs and drives. Read more

Mark Holcomb, Time Out: As hangdog and hammy as its leading man, this extra-thick slice of Canadian tragedy porn subsists on contrivances from other movies. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Weaver makes Linda her own, alternating between off-putting brashness, engaging honesty and bursts of spontaneous, childlike behavior. Read more

Derek Elley, Variety: Lack of dramatic intensity is all the more surprising considering the emotional clout of helmer Marc Evans' two best movies, the chilling Resurrection Man and scarefest My Little Eye. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: This slow-burning character drama never gets as emotionally involving, or persuasive, as the moviemakers intend it to. Read more