Who knew a snowman compacted by a serial killer would mean off with your head. God forbid, if you see a sorry excuse for a snowman with coffee beans for eyes and a mouth in your yard—you’re as good as dead. Sounds silly, and The Snowman, based on Jo Nesbø’s serial-killer mystery book, is trying really hard not to be. Director Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) recently revealed to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK):
“Our shoot time in Norway was way too short, we didn’t get the whole story with us and when we started cutting we discovered that a lot was missing.”
No disagreement here. There’s an obvious absence of suspense. Not only does the director feel cheated, but so will the audience. The Snowman doesn’t invest in the physical murders where it should; instead, it’s in the sloppy subplots where they bog down any momentum attempting to be built. The talent of Michael Fassbender and Rebecca Ferguson are the only warm spots in an otherwise icy plot, sliding in to schlock.
Fassbender plays Harry Hole, an alcoholic detective whose cases are being studied in classrooms. But those cases were long ago and he’s got a little too much time on his hands these days. The job is all he knows and after he meets homicide department newbie Katrine Bratt (Ferguson), we see he hasn’t lost his step completely. Hole does what he does best, putting the pieces together and seeking the nutcase that’s decapitating women that are mothers or soon-to-be. Meanwhile, Bratt isn’t just his sidekick, she’s hoping to get closure on the death of her father (an out-of-place Val Kilmer).
As a time saver, I won’t go in to the details of Bratt following Arve Støp (an astonishingly under-appreciated J.K. Simmons), an asshole business man with a fascination for prostitutes. She’s trying to finish an investigation her father started, yet it only sends the movie into a dead-end with a distinct disillusion for trying to make something out of nothing.
Ferguson’s performance still has a mission and it’s personal. She’s stellar at showing her emotional ties to a case that clearly means something to her. It cuts deep and she’s not interested in following the rules to get the answers she wants. And where there’s Fassbender, there’s quality. He delivers an edgy portrayal of a guy losing his grip and it’s no one’s fault but his own. But getting his shit together isn’t really his top priority. His only stability outside of work is his ex-girlfriend (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her son (Michael Yates), and even that’s pretty shaky. Nevertheless, Hole is never a guy to shy away from solving the most grotesque of what society has to offer.
In the minds of these two actors, The Snowman contains a darkly intense tone of not just murder but abandonment. A terrorizing thriller where the audience will be frostbitten by the chilly, desolate atmosphere, while shocked and surprised by the disturbing events that unfold before our very eyes.
Wake up because this version ain’t it. The Snowman on-screen is hopefully not the one they signed up for; but, regrettably, is the one we’re all left with.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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