For a movie concerned with such heady topics as fate, destiny, and mounting paranoia, it seems curiously reluctant to stick with the mystical.
First Snow (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:71
Fresh:41
Rotten:30
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: In First Snow, an interesting premise gives way to a slow and tedious noir that adds little to the genre.
Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Jimmy (Guy Pearce) is a smooth-talking salesman who finds himself making a detour after his car breaks down on a desert highway. To pass the time, he pays a visit to a local palm reader, Vacaro... Jimmy (Guy Pearce) is a smooth-talking salesman who finds himself making a detour after his car breaks down on a desert highway. To pass the time, he pays a visit to a local palm reader, Vacaro (J.K. Simmons). Vacaro makes a few positive predictions for him, but then appears deeply disturbed by a vision. Jimmy demands to know what he saw, but Vacaro refuses to tell him, and won't even accept payment for the reading. A few days later, Jimmy becomes uneasy when various predictions begin to come true. He returns to Vacaro and begs to know what is in store for him. Vacaro admits that, yes, Jimmy's days are numbered, and he is to meet his fate--whatever it may be-- upon the first snowfall. The news causes Jimmy to descend into paranoia and fear, and he begins to behave irrationally--endangering both his job and his relationship with his girlfriend (Piper Perabo).What tragedy is about to befall him? Should he worry about his heart murmur? The threats from a disgruntled ex-employee? Or his ex-best friend, a convicted felon, who has recently come back to town? He turns his life inside out, racing to alter his destiny before the first snow. Guy Pearce gives his usual electric performance, perfectly capturing Jimmy's slick egotism, and later, his wild-eyed fear. His puzzle-like quest for the truth combined with the film's noir-style is at times reminiscent of MEMENTO, though the pace is a bit slower, and the plot a bit clunkier. But the film does still manage to pose some intriguing questions about the idea of fate, and the notion of each life being on a pre-destined path. Like MEMENTO, FIRST SNOW will leave viewers scratching their heads in wonder, if not feeling more than a little spooked. [More]
Starring: Guy Pearce, Piper Perabo, William Fichtner, J.K. Simmons
Starring: Guy Pearce, Piper Perabo, William Fichtner, J.K. Simmons, Shea Whigham, Rick Gonzalez, Jackie Burroughs, Adam Scott
Director: Mark Fergus, Bob Yari
Director: Mark Fergus
Screenwriter: Hawk Ostby, Mark Fergus
Director: Bob Yari
Producer: Sean Furst, Bryan Furst, Tom Lassally, Robyn Meisinger
Composer: Cliff Martinez
Studio: Yari Film Group
Reviews for First Snow
Pearce's usual intense dedication to being in the moment aside, there's not a lot of there there.
The burden of keeping this schematically plotted tale's pulse lively falls on Pearce, who instills Jimmy with a brand of cheery, motormouthed deceitfulness and egotism that even a mother would loathe.
A neo-noir picture that won't entirely satisfy, but offers enough incidental pleasures to make it a moderately enjoyable trip to the dark side.
torpid where it should be tense, dull where it should be sharp, and so caught up with its big themes that it forgets to give them a compelling stage on which to play out
First Snow is essentially a short story with a metaphysical twist, but Pearce puts his fears more up front than any actor I can think of. He keeps you poked and prodded with anxiety.
First Snow is a very worthy first film, and one that lingers in the mind long after the final fade-out.
First rate, incredibly intense and unrelenting thriller guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat.
It's quite admirable of Guy Pearce to try and eschew a Hollywood career, [but] if he keeps making films like First Snow...
The story is familiar and the pacing much too measured for a slight tale of ineluctable fate.
Covers very familiar indie territory, but debuting director Mark Fergus covers with style.
A small film with Hitchcock-ian overtones, but it's got a strong pulse and keeps you wondering beyond its end.
With its quiet, unassuming style and brooding intelligence, First Snow isn't the kind of movie that announces itself, but it's well worth seeking out, especially for moviegoers who complain that 'they' don't make movies for grown-ups anymore.
A psychological thriller with the message that knowing about your impending death has a way of focusing your life and making everything supercharged with meaning.
A pointed little thriller with metaphysical pretensions, First Snow is shrewd enough to approach basic philosophical questions in sneaky, offhand ways.
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