First Snow
Studio: Sony Year: 2006 Rated: R Program Length: 102 minutes Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 full screen Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English, Spanish |
The Program
First Snow is an intriguing thriller from first-time director Mark Fergus (one of the Academy Award-nominated screenwriters for Children of Men). Set in New Mexico, the story concerns a fast-talking, slick salesman named Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce). While driving home from a sales trip, Jimmy’s car breaks down on a highway in a remote area outside of Albuquerque. While waiting for the car to be repaired, Jimmy decides to kill some time by getting a reading from a fortune teller named Vacaro (J.K. Simmons), who lives in a trailer near the garage where Jimmy’s car is being repaired. Jimmy assumes that Vacaro is just another snake-oil salesman, not unlike himself, but Vacaro actually takes his calling quite seriously. After making some predictions about Jimmy’s future – including that he will reap a financial windfall from Dallas, Texas – Vacaro suddenly breaks off the reading and, without explanation, refunds Jimmy’s money.
After getting home, Jimmy is stunned to learn that his boss, Roy (Luce Rains) has just returned from a trip to Dallas, where he decided to finance a business venture which Jimmy had suggested some time earlier. Jimmy begins to think that perhaps there is something to fortune telling after all. He returns to the small town where his car broke down and confronts Vacaro, demanding to know why the fortune teller refused to continue the reading. Vacaro finally confesses that he saw a vision that Jimmy will die when the first snow of winter falls.
Jimmy becomes obsessed with the prediction of his imminent demise. Three recent developments in his life help to persuade him that the fortune teller may have accurately read his future. A former co-worker, Andy Lopez (Rick Gonzalez), lost his job and blames Jimmy for the firing. After a routine physical, Jimmy is informed by his doctor that he has an abnormality in his heart. Then Jimmy learns that his childhood friend, Vincent (Shea Whigham), has been released from prison. Jimmy has reason to fear his old friend, because he and Vincent were at one time involved in a money-laundering scheme. Jimmy took a plea bargain and avoided prison time in return for his testimony. Vincent kept his mouth shut and was convicted and sentenced to hard time.
Convinced that either Andy or Vincent is out to get him, and worried about his heart, Jimmy becomes increasingly paranoid and his life begins to spin out of control. His relationship with his girlfriend Deirdre (Piper Perabo) is in danger of falling apart and his work suffers. His sense of dread is heightened by the knowledge that winter is right around the corner.
First Snow is a very effective film and the viewer quickly becomes invested in Jimmy’s plight. The performances are uniformly excellent and Guy Pearce is perfectly cast as the salesman who has always been able to talk his way out of difficult situations. The film’s appeal is enhanced by the location filming in New Mexico. The sweeping vistas and long stretches of nearly-deserted highways add to the sense of increasing isolation which Jimmy is feeling.
My only complaint is that the film is too long by several minutes. A common fault of first-time filmmakers is that they oftentimes do not know when or how to end the story and that seems to be the case here. Without getting into any spoilers, I will just say that the ending is too pat, contrived and unnecessary. Even so, it was not sufficiently disappointing to ruin my enjoyment of the film. First Snow is original and it is acted and directed with great style.
The Video
The anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer is very pleasing. The images are sharp and stable. The colors are somewhat muted, which apparently is intentional because the action takes place in late autumn and we are supposed to feel that winter is imminent. Writer/Director Fergus makes excellent use of the New Mexico locations. Many of the scenes take place at night or in dark interiors, but shadow detail is quite good. There are no problems with edge enhancement and I did not observe any digital artifacts. This is a very good-looking DVD.
The DVD also contains a 1.33:1 pan and scan version of the film for those who do not mind losing 50% of the image. A spot check of the pan and scan version indicates that its video quality is on a par with the widescreen version.
The Audio
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio delivers very effective dimensionality, particularly in the outdoor scenes. The dialogue is usually very intelligible, although there are a couple of lines of conversation between Jimmy and his girlfriend which I had difficulty making out. The musical score is fine and has excellent separation.
The Supplements
This is a bare-bones presentation with no supplemental materials, other than some trailers for other Sony DVDs.
The Packaging
This DVD comes in a standard keepcase.
The Final Analysis
Viewers who enjoy thrillers which incorporate elements of film noir are likely to enjoy this film. Critics seem to have been evenly divided on First Snow, but if the premise intrigues you I suspect that you will be glad that you took the time to check it out.
Note: First Snow did not get its theatrical release until 2007, but it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in 2006 so I have listed it as a 2006 release.
Equipment used for this review:
Toshiba HD-XA2 DVD player
Sharp LC-42D62U LCD display
Yamaha HTR-5890 THX Surround Receiver
BIC Acoustech speakers
Interconnects: Monster Cable
Release Date: November 27, 2007
