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SNOW CAKE
Directed by Marc Evans.
Produced by: Andrew Eaton, Gina Carter, Niv Fichman & Jessica Daniel.
Written by: Angela Pell.
Director of Photography: Steve Cosens.
Edited by: Marguerite Arnold.
Released by: IFC First Take/The Weinstein Company.
Country of Origin: UK/USA. 112 Min. Not Rated.
With: Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Anne Moss & Emily Hampshire.

Snow Cake is a one of those small movie gems that could easily pass you by even though it stars two great actors – Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver – working at the top of their game. Don't let that happen. The film opens in the early spring in Ontario, Canada, just as the ground and the residents are starting to thaw out from the long winter. Alex Hughes (Rickman), a sad, introverted Brit starts out on a road trip to Winnipeg in search of something or someone – we have no idea. He is accosted in a local diner by Vivienne, an effusive 16-year-old girl, played by Emily Hampshire, hitchhiking her way back home to Wawa. The two form an unlikely bond, and just as they reach the final leg of their trip, the car is hit by a speeding 18-wheeler, and Vivienne is instantly killed while Alex walks away with barely a scratch.

Alex feels compelled to apologize to Vivienne's mother, and when he knocks on her door, that is where the film really begins. Answering the door is Linda Freeman, a highly functioning autistic woman. As Linda, Weaver has never looked more luminous (even without an ounce of makeup) playing a woman who cannot look anyone directly into their eyes. Her detached, child-like way of dealing with the world is a relief for Alex, who struggles with his own lack of emotions.

Autism seems to be everywhere in the news these days, where the conversation is mostly focused around kids, especially young boys. It is quite a shock to see an autistic woman who, when you first look at her, seems quite normal, but in reality lives in her own world that no one else can penetrate. For example, she loves lying in the snow, making snowmen, and, especially, eating the snow – thus, the title. (It's a good thing she lives in a climate with snow six months of the year.) It's a bit of a stretch, but the snow seems to symbolize Linda's innocence, fresh and clean. Her idiosyncrasies, like lining up shoes and not permitting anyone in her kitchen, prove to be quite an adjustment for Alex, but as they get used to each other, she is almost able to almost open up and make space for Alex in her beloved kitchen and her world.

Rickman and Weaver played opposite each other in the comedy Galaxy Quest several years ago. That this film is so different and that they carry it off fabulously reveals their tremendous range. Emily Hampshire bears a striking resemblance to Weaver, with her big probing eyes, and even though her time onscreen is brief, she leaves behind a searing image of a young woman on the brink of adulthood. Director Mark Evans shows incredible competence and restraint directing the script by Angela Pell, who wrote from her own personal experience of having a son with autism. Evans allows the film to play out at its own pace, not rushing any of the scenes.

Melissa Silverstein, a writer on women & popular culture and online editor for The Women's Media Center
April 27, 2007