Product Details

• Actors: Guy Pearce, Steven Michael Quezada, J.K. Simmons, Nicholas Ballas, Piper Perabo
• Directors: Mark Fergus
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: November 27, 2007
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000VECADU
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,111 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "First Snow" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With a thriller as low-key as First Snow, dynamic acting is a must. Fortunately, Guy Pearce (Memento) owns the screen as slick salesman Jimmy Starks. In his first film, Oscar-nominated writer Mark Fergus (Children of Men) forgoes visual effects in favor of an increasingly complex narrative. As in many Stephen King novels, the story centers on the collision between a man of reason and a man of faith--in the supernatural, that is. The foreshadowing begins when Starks visits fortune teller Vacaro (J.K. Simmons, Spider-Man). Starks assumes he's a fellow hustler. Then his every prediction comes true. On a return trip, Vacaro tells him he'll be dead by first snow, but can't say how or when. Should Starks put his affairs in order, enjoy his time with girlfriend Deirdre (Piper Perabo), or just do nothing? Then again, snow seems unlikely for Albuquerque. Over the next few days, several possible culprits come to light, like Andy (Rick Gonzalez), an assistant Starks fired, and Vince (Shea Wigham), a partner he sold down the river. Convinced one of them is going to seek revenge, Starks becomes so paranoid he opens the door to disaster. Fergus excels in keeping the tension at a low boil, but he undersells the climax. Still, it's a nice change from all the mysteries that build in intensity before collapsing in a heap of improbabilities. First Snow is rooted in the real world from the first frame to the last. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description

Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential), Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly) and JK Simmons (Thank You For Smoking, Spiderman 1-3) star in this intriguing thriller about a man whose life spins out of control after psychic tells him his days are numbered. After his car breaks down in a desolate town, a slick salesman, Jimmy Starks (Pearce), visits a fortune teller (Simmons) to kill some time. But the psychic’s ominous reading sends Jimmy’s life into a tailspin when he learns that his life will soon end, but he is safe at least, until the first snow of the season. Now, with his ultimate fate looming nearer, Jimmy becomes obsessed with revisiting his past in hopes of changing his destiny before it’s too late.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "You Put Yourself on This Road...And The Gods Laugh Harder", December 17, 2007

By	Rocky Raccoon "Hey, Doc, It's Only a Scratch!" (Boise, ID) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The trouble with fortune telling is that you don't get the whole story. Even seers have limitations with the fortunes they dispense. This is the premise of another chilling suspense story starring Guy Pearce in a maverick role for which we've become accustomed since `Memento' Memento. Sharply written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostly (sp?) and keenly directed by Mark Fergus, 'First Snow' has to be one of the edgiest and most suspenseful thrillers of the year.

Jimmy Starks (Pearce) is stranded at a remote garage. His car needs servicing, and he's like many impatient businessmen on the go. He can't get repairs immediately, so he's stuck there for the evening. Moseying into the honky-tonk bar, he finds an opportunity to see a psychic in a nearby mobile home. Vacaro (J.R. Simmons, Peter Parker's boss) vends his futures according to the funds, but is quick to pick up on what Jimmy can afford. This piques both his interest and his skepticism. Soon he shares a stream of fortune: He'll be on the road before the next day. His pro basketball team, the Timberwolves, will win decisively, and he'll receive a windfall from Dallas. In the midst of their meeting, Vacaro's clasped hand shakes and trembles until he lets go. Vacaro is shaken and gives Jimmy all of his money back. Throughout Jimmy sees the experience as entertainment. All but the first proposition sounds preposterous, and the only thing that seems amiss is the refund...until fortune's hand plays out for him.

Leo, Jimmy's business partner, is a skeptic. His explanations square with most of ours: Jimmy has a Timberwolves' bumper sticker. It is the power of suggestion. If you go looking "under every rock," [fortune] is bound to show up where he tells you. When playing car games as a child, if you say, "Spot the Volkswagons," you find them all over the place. Jimmy must find out for himself, so he returns to the fortune teller for more answers. This time a somber seer tells him he hasn't long to live. He is safe until "the first snow".

There are many ways to accept this news. One is to take advantage of life like a terminal patient. Another is to fight for life. Jimmy chooses the latter. Ominously, we see near misses and a foreboding message in the mail. He first rashly blames a Mexican associate (Rick Gonzales). Then he finds out about an old friend and business partner, Vincent, is out of prison on parole. He seeks his mother to find out more. He rashly goes to his mobile home and only draws more attention to himself. Calling the police, missing work, investigating his wayward friend, and trying to drive until he misses the "first snow," he stops to take stock of matters. Then, he must decide whether to keep running or to face his future.

Much like an updated `Twilight Zone' adventure, `First Snow' plays upon our curiosity with tight and tense scenes that quickly get and keep our interest. After seeing this movie a comparison to `Premonition' Premonition (Full Screen) proves that execution and editing can be crucial to a film's success. Gripping like `Wind Chill' Wind Chill just before it, `First Snow' offers one bracing and suspenseful chiller.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taut noir thriller, April 27, 2007

By	LGwriter "SharpWitGuy" (Astoria, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This taut little thriller, directed by first-timer Mark Fergus, is a real gripper with intelligence to spare and some seriously powerful stuff. The protagonist/anti-hero, Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce in a role that hauntingly echoes his work in "Memento"), is a salesman/con man who easily slides in and out of legit selling and shady conning. Pearce carries this off beautifully, and is ably abetted in his downward spiraling tale by J.K. Simmons as Vaccaro, the strangely prescient soothsayer, William Fichtner as Jimmy's friend Ed, and some really great unknown actors in other supporting roles, principally the actor playing Jimmy's boss, who will hopefully go on to do more work on film (he's terrific).

Jimmy accidentally meets up with fortune teller Vaccaro who accurately predicts a win by a local college basketball team that Jimmy's bet on, as well as a windfall from an on-the-level business deal that Jimmy's involved in. What Vaccaro does not predict is the riveting, ever-darker series of events that ensue when Jimmy finds out that a former partner of his in a crooked scam, Vince, is now out on parole from a stretch in the slammer.

For my money, this is the best American noir thriller of the year so far, and would make a great addition, once it's out on DVD, to anyone's library of neo-noirs. The ending in particular is really strong--always the mark of a well-made film.

Try not to miss this. It's great.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Guy Pearce Does a Great Job Here, December 7, 2007

By	N. Hackman "Dr. Nan" (Vancouver Island) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This film starts off with much promise. Guy Pearce is a really interesting actor, as is William Fichtner. Their nuanced performances are the reason for my 4 stars. Somewhere around three quarters of the way through things get a bit formulaic. Also, the women characters in this don't really hold up their end of things. That might partly be a failing of the Director and/or the script. I appreciated the New Mexican locale and the philosophical underpinnings, although this would've been better if the trajectory of the storyline had been allowed to meander into unexpected areas and the dark tone given a respite. Overall this film achieves a lot on a low budget.