This past year, "Snow Angels" premiered at Sundance Film Fest to glowing reviews. Now in limited release, the new film from David Gordon Green who burst onto the scene in the early '90s, is one of the most devastingly real movies out. The story centers around two people: Arthur Parkinson (Michael Angarano) and Annie (Kate Beckinsale). Arthur and Kate, who used to babysit Arthur when he was younger, work together in a small Pennsylvania town restaurant. Arthur is dealing with his parents nasty divorce along with a quirky girl, Lila (Olivia Thirlby fresh off the monster success of "Juno") who he is growing to like. Annie has problems of her own with her alcoholic ex-husband who claims to have "found Jesus" and an affair with her best friend's husband. When Annie's daughter goes missing, the unraveling of everyone's lives begins.
Snow Angels success not just because it deals with human emotions in such a raw and intense way, but also because of the stellar performances from the cast. Angarano is the true star of this film, showing real pain and confusion in an absolutely believable way. His relationship with Lila seems real because it is so awkward and slow at first. Beckinsale also delivers in a gut wrenching performance that made me long for her to do dramas like this more often. While the ending is likely to send you into a depressive state, the film does you just enough glimmer of hope and insight into human relationships that it makes the $9 ticket price seem all the more worth it.

"