First Snow

_Existential examination of fate vs. freewill with Guy Pearce_ A smooth-talking charismatic salesman in New Mexico (Guy Pearce) consults a psychic at a rest stop on a whim (J.K. Simmons) and becomes increasingly paranoid that his ‘fortune’ might be accurate. Piper Perabo plays his girlfriend, William Fichtner his friend at work and Shea Whigham a former best bud from childhood. "First Snow" (2006) is a gritty, desolate exploration of freewill and fate, not to mention the struggle with guilt, paranoia and doing the right thing. It has the bleak, reverent tone of movies like “The Woodsman” (2004), “The Mothman Prophecies” (2002),” “Dark Country” (2009), “The Dry Land” (2010), “Leo” (2002) and “The Cry of the Owl” (2009). Don’t expect any overt supernaturalism, but there are hints of mysterious forces beyond human decision or activity. Pearce is very reminiscent of Brad Pitt in this particular role while Perabo is always a pleasure. Yet the film isn’t pleasurable in any conventional sense. It’s grey and film noir-ish with a sense of desperate inevitability. You have to be in the mood for slow-burn mundaneness to appreciate it. The movie runs 1 hour, 41 minutes, and was shot in the heart of New Mexico: Albuquerque, Bosque Farms and Moriarty. GRADE: B-/C+