First Snow
Four stars
Directed by: Mark Fergus
Starring: Guy Pearce, Piper Perabo
PG-13, 121 min.
First Snow follows a man named Jimmy (Guy Pearce) who's waiting for his death after a fisherman/cowboy/fortune-teller predicts that he will die after the first snow. Paranoid and unsure of how to take control over such an uncontrollable situation, Jimmy keeps his enemies close, including a co-worker he recently fired and an old friend recently released from jail. The film speaks directly about predestination - destiny, coincidences, a lot of talk about choosing roads - all of which lead to Jimmy's vacillating between lying down to die and choosing to live life.
The control concept builds into a suspenseful twist, a type of plot that director Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, co-writers of Children of Men, clearly favor. Pearce gives the unctuous salesman archetype a new charm while Piper Perabo plays into her role as eye candy (films about prison can do that). The desperate narcissism and smart one-liners enhance the fears of an insecure salesman as they develop into fears of being shot in the head. At the same time, beautiful quick cuts suggest the predestined actions of conversations still taking place.
After the screening, Fergus admitted that he wants his films to change one's way of thinking. Though the philosophical points are not exactly subtle, the film does challenge diagetic concepts of time and how these philosophical points can be presented on screen. Yes, First Snow is a thriller, but its lively filming style makes up for the film's reliance on all those guns and creepy voicemails.
