The Snowman - Movie Review

The Snowman is a thriller released this week in the United States. It was released in Finland last week, but has not made much money. Apparently it wasn't very well received so "close to home." The movie takes place in Norway, primarily around Oslo. The movie is not half bad. But it is not necessarily good, either. The film offers suspense and misdirection, but it also creates inconsistencies and plot holes. For a 35 million dollar movie, I would expect more. This movie may be lucky to break even. And who names the protagonist of a story Harry Hole? Seriously.

Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) is a homicide detective in Oslo, Norway. The low-crime capital doesn't offer him much work. Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Ferguson), a fellow detective, is working a missing persons case. Hole tags along and ends up offering unsolicited advice. Hole and Bratt end up working together, although neither completely shares what they know, as the missing persons cases begin to pile up. Eventually, it is discovered that the missing person cases are homicides. There are a slew of suspects and an intriguing "calling card." The killer leaves a snowman at the crime scenes. As Hole begins to unravel the identities of the players (which includes his partners secret identity), the case hits close to home.

The pacing in The Snowman is deliberate. Typical of the thriller genre. The pacing is often slow and steady until it begins to build toward an apex. This film had a steady pace, but it never really hit a climax. In fact, the ending was a bit anti-climactic. For all the building, we didn't get much resolution at the end. The story used misdirection to keep viewers guessing, although I had it figured out halfway through the film. The misdirection only served to create plot holes. It left me with unanswered questions about unlikely coincidences. In that aspect, it felt contrived. The acting was good, and the story had an interesting premise. But it was a bit flat overall. The type of film you don't regret seeing, but that you wouldn't feel you had missed, either. It could have been much cleaner, more concise and better at tying up loose ends.

I have long been a fan of Michael Fassbender. He is a solid actor and generally picks good roles. His performance was excellent, but the story was lacking in many areas. I'm not sure he could have known it would be so poorly constructed in the end as much of the film ends up on the cutting room floor. What may have seemed complete may have gotten chopped up. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt here. The performances were solid overall. I thought the acting was fine, although Val Kilmer seemed a bit offkilter. I thought he may have had a stroke. It bothered me enough to google it after the movie. He had a tracheostomy tube removed last year. So that makes sense in retrospect. But it was a bit distracting. Overall, I thought the casting was solid. That was not the shortcoming in this film.

The MPAA gave The Snowman an R Rating. There was one brief scene of nudity which, in retrospect, seemed odd. It was not part of the story, it was part of the misdirection. There was some sexuality and plenty of graphic violence. Not all of the violence was shown as it happened, but even the imagery after the violence was grisly. Which is a testament to the special effects. There were some pretty solid effects to create the gore. There wasn't a lot of gore, but it looked pretty authentic. But then, when you know a film had a 35 million dollar budget, you sort of expect good effects.

The Snowman is a plodding thriller that doesn't chart any new territory. There is nothing to set this film apart. It was an average serial killer type story. The misdirection helped create suspense but it also created plot holes that were never reconciled. The story felt a bit contrived and left me with unanswered questions. Which always bothers me at the end of a movie. Even films that are designed to allow you to decide your own ending irritate me. In this case, it was entirely unnecessary, other than to create some of the suspense. The film did a good job of making me feel transported to the place, I could even feel the cold blowing off the lake at times. But it was just okay. Nothing special. Wait for it to stream. Wait for it to stream for free, that is. 6.5/10.