The Snowman is a British adaptation of a Scandi-Crime Drama by Jo Nesbø. But will this movie chill us to the bone, or melt away before the frost falls?
Jo Nesbø himself is a name that, if you live in London you’ll almost definitely recognise. His name is ubiquitous with the commute thriller. Shelves upon shelves of bookstores will hold his numerous titles and will win bestseller awards as they fly off into people’s hands as they take their seat on the tube. With good reason I might add, the Scandi-thriller genre has done well in recent years with stunning TV adaptations such as The Killing and the legendary Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series. With pedigree like this, taking on a novel for the big screen should already have the way paved, right?
If anything should be mentioned here. It’s that the film is definitely not short on star power. Michael Fassbender takes the role of lead detective, Harry Hole whilst other big names such as Val Kilmer, J.K Simmons and Charlotte Gainsbourg fill out the ensemble cast.
However, despite good footing to start on, a very good novel to base it off, and strong actors to fill the role, The Snowman slips, slides and becomes a puddle at our feet. One which, much like a real snowman, would be near impossible to put together again if you were to try.
The plot is the hardest thing to try and pull together here. Harry Hole, Fassbender’s role, is a hard-drinking, troubled detective (aren’t they all..), but he’s not the only one. Val Kilmer’s role is ANOTHER hard-drinking detective, although he’s more present in a different case, from years ago, which might be linked…or a flashback.
To be honest, if you struggle with that plot, you can take your pick from a host of others. You could try to figure out why Chloe Sevigny’s character is beheading chickens, and then suddenly brutally murdered, and then reincarnated as her own police-aiding sister. Or if not, you could try to follow one of the many romance/pregnancy/absent father storylines, or for light relief, why J.K Simmons wants the Winter Sports World Cup to come to Oslo.
The movie’s name could also be represented as a bit of a misnomer. It implies there is but one snowman, this is definitely not the case. The Snowmen would’ve been more apt. However, despite the brutality of the murders and their variation (limbs encased in snow, head mounted on snowman body etc) their constant, jarring reappearance starts making them almost giggle-worthy.
The relationship between the sexes on screen is almost impossible to read accurately. Women are, for the most part, brutally murdered and dismembered whereas the men are predominantly absent fathers, alcoholics or simply damaged. This reviewer can’t tell whether this is supposed to be a skewering of the culture of toxic masculinity or a praise of it.
Post-production interviews in fairness, did already allude to the fact the film hasn’t and wasn’t going to measure up to the novel. Director Tomas Alfredson stated;
“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. It’s like when you’re making a big jigsaw puzzle and a few pieces are missing so you don’t see the whole picture”
If you do decide to sit down and endure the film, this won’t come as a surprise…a lot is missing. Thematically and plot-wise it just doesn’t add up and makes for a real mish-mash of a film.
Awards-wise the film is unlikely to win anything outside of the Golden Raspberries, and overall, isn’t worth the viewing. If you do decide to watch it, it’s one redeeming factor is that it will help set a benchmark for poor movies, meaning you may appreciate better ones more having seen this.
Author: Steve, Southgate Store
