Mary B

Margot’s a treasure and the soundtrack is awesome. But the mess of a movie around it is...dare I say it...a bore. Grunts and kicks for two hours. Yawn.

Martin Scorsese was supposed to direct this, and it shows in the complex script that looks to have been put in a shredder after he left to go work on a better film. I think his replacement found the script in the shredder, haphazardly pasted it back back together in no logical order, and then filmed it while on a bad acid trip. The script deviates wildly from the book. In Marty’s capable hands, he could have integrated the subplots and red herrings into a cool film about a Norwegian serial killer. But Marty went on to other projects. He probably sent his gifted editors in after he saw the mess the film became with his replacement director. The editors did the best they could with the dog droppings they were given. But the result is one of the worst movies with one of the best casts ever released. There was an early trailer for The Snowman, where a woman is walking alone to her car in Norway, her vulnerability and the soft snow creating a creepy and effective mood. Someone suddenly throws a snowball at her. You jump. You see a snowman. Is there a killer in the snowman? If only this the tone and pace of this well executed piece could have been reflected in the film, the film would have more points than the current 7% it has on Rotten Tomatoes. For example, the lead detective character has mold issues in his home. This cop drinks a lot and passes out a lot.There is a sleazy mystery figure who is treating this mold. Who is this? Could this be the killer? This guy has keys to his house and every opportunity to spy/torture/kill the usually impaired cop. This darkly potential plot point is briefly addressed, and then trashed. Numerous plot threads and characters are abandoned and brutalized in this film until the whole thing makes no sense and you don’t care about anything or anyone...lethal news for any film. The Snowman is not even salvageable as a film so bad it’s good. It’s just sad to see all the wasted brilliant talent behind of and in front of the camera.