Snowcake

Occasionally you just want to see a particular actor, no matter what they are in. In this case, it was Alan Rickman. From the description, Snowcake sounded like it was going to be the Canadian version of Rainman. And a few of the characters from Slings & Arrows did show up, perhaps just to insure the Canadian pedigree. Rickman is a sad soul traveling to Winnipeg when he picks up a joung hitchhiker. After a car accident which kills his passenger, he goes to visit her mom (Sigourney Weaver) and discovers that she is "high functioning autistic" living in a quintessential small town. Quintessential, meaning that everyone knows everyone, and your sense of privacy must include the idea that you have none. The bulk of this story is the development of the Rickman/Weaver relationship, along with Rickman battling the demons from his own past. While it is a bit slow, a bit predictable, and a bit sappy, I liked the care shown for people. I liked the realistic portrayal of how some peoples "care" is just annoying. And most of all, I liked the scene involving Comic Book Scrabble. What a brilliant concept. Scrabble with the ability to make up words that could be found in a comic book. The only requirement is that you can use the word in a comic book sentence.
4-stars