English ex-convict Alex (Alan Rickman) is on his way to Winnipeg to visit an old acquaintance when he meets the young, lively and overly talkative hitch-hiker Vivienne (Emily Hampshire). He half-heartedly agrees to give her a lift but soon starts enjoying her company. However, the fun part of the journey doesn’t last long as a terrible accident leaves Vivienne dead and Alex shocked. Not knowing what to do, he gets her information to see her mother Linda (Sigourney Weaver). However, instead of finding a shocked and grieving mother, he finds an autistic woman who seems to have more problems about the danger of Alex’s messing up her house than the death of her daughter. She decides that she needs Alex for the night, in fact for a couple of more days because now that Vivienne is gone, she needs someone to walk Vivienne’s dog and take out the thrash – two things she can’t handle. Alex finds himself staying, at first surprised and involuntarily but then starting to develop a friendship with Linda and enjoying her company. He enjoys his stay even more when he meets Linda’s beautiful and single next door neighbor Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss). He soon hooks up with her and Alex realizes that his relationship with Maggie and his friendship with Linda might just be the therapy he needs. His responsibilities include organizing a funeral and he also ends up learning Linda’s story and we get to hear Alex’s…

Snow Cake is a wonderfully emotional and sweet film with great acting. Of course the heavy burdens are on Sigourney Weaver’s and Alan Rickman’s shoulders as she needs to come off as authentic as an autistic person and Alan has to sell us a multi-layered character who has emotional baggage and seems to be caring about a stranger a lot more than a person normally would…

Now, Snow Cake is not a film to watch for laughs, although there are moments that will put smiles and even grins on your face. But it is a drama with some unique parts and wonderful dialogue. However it all comes together a little slowly and if you are in need of some quick entertainment, Snow Cake is not it.

But this movie has a great tagline that sums up the whole experience: “Sometimes stopping is the most important part of the journey…”

Written by Angela Pell, and directed by Marc Evans. 7.6 on IMDB. No objections here. See it, but be a little patient with the characters and the pace.

Recommended:

You might also enjoy Adam. Which is more of a romance than a drama, but it centers on another high-functioning autistic person, this time played by Hugh Dancy.