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Movie Review: The Snowman

Scott Davis

From Silence of the Lambs (1991), to Zodiac (2007), to Se7en (1995), detective thrillers can prove to be a great escape for the moviegoing audience. It puts us in the shoes of a profession we’ll probably never be in and most of the time it asks us to participate in actively solving the mystery at hand. You usually receive the clues at the same time the characters do and it can be endlessly engaging to help solve the puzzle. When the genre works, it works well. When it doesn’t, you get movies like The Snowman. The intentions might have been to produce a film in the same vein as the previously mentioned thrillers, but The Snowman completely misses the mark. With a plot that is scattered, a terribly miscast group of actors, and shaky direction, The Snowman is a slow-burn that eventually melts from its own stupidity.

The Snowman is inspired by the book of the same name written by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo. The book is the seventh installment of the Harry Hole series, but this is the first major motion picture based on the character—it should also be his last, given the results. The film follows detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) while he investigates the disappearance of a mother upon the first snowfall of winter. He receives a mysterious letter addressed to him that is signed with a simple drawing of a snowman. Helping him with the investigation is Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Ferguson) who seems especially determined to bring down this killer. There are many more characters and a few dangling subplots, but it all adds up to pretty much nothing. Almost everything here doesn’t make much sense, and even director Tomas Alfredson has said that the final product has some key missing scenes. He blames a rushed production schedule and says the film is like a giant jigsaw puzzle with a few pieces missing so you don’t see the whole picture. That’s right! The director of the movie said that the film is missing parts to the plot. If a director feels that way about his own film, how do you think audience members are going to feel?

Alfredson’s statement aside, the film’s direction is still subpar. While it is unfair to compare his direction here to greats like David Fincher or Jonathan Demme, you would think something could have been learned from those filmmakers. Alfredson seemed to take notes on how to film a slow-burn thriller, but he didn’t really take notice of how to make the deliberate pacing of a thriller effective. Slow-burn thrillers work best when the characters and story are three-dimensional, but an actual snowman has more dimensions than Alfredson’s film. The characters are all incredibly flat and don’t feel even remotely real, and that is what really hurts the pacing.

Michael Fassbender in “The Snowman.”

The flatness of the characters could have been alleviated somewhat by a talented cast. While on paper The Snowman boasts an impressive array of talent, they all give subpar performances throughout this film. Fassbender is one of the most dynamic actors working today with great work in 12 Years A Slave (2013), Steve Jobs (2015), and even the X-Men franchise. He always seems to bring his A-game, but here he just doesn’t seem interested. He doesn’t give life to a boring script or direction, which you can’t blame him for, but it is disappointing. Another disappointing actor in this movie is Val Kilmer. I have no idea what movie Kilmer thinks he is in, but it certainly is not The Snowman. He is jaw-droopingly bad in what could be a career worst performance for him.

The Snowman has a lot going for it on paper: it boasts an impressive cast, a best-selling source novel, a director with promise, and even Martin Scorsese serving as executive producer. The final product, however, is not representative of the talent involved. If what Alfredson is saying is true and the production was incredibly rushed, then maybe this movie could have been saved. The Snowman has the right ingredients, but it just comes together in a very disappointing way and will leave audiences confused, bored, and ultimately cold.

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Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.
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