Well Pedigreed Critical/Commercial Disasters GEAUX!
The Coen bros. have a sterling record as directors, but a somewhat middling one as screenwriters for films they haven't been at the helm for themselves, Suburbicon joins the ranks of other honorable mediocrities like Gambit and Unbroken. Its a wannabe mean-spirited noir set in an idyllic (or is it?) 1950's suburban setting, there's an awkwardly shoehorned in integration subplot that never really pays off but is well intentioned. Well intentioned actually describes a lot of this movie, as the thrills often fail to materialize and only some of the jokes land (Coen-sorta black humor has got to be properly committed to). A Coen bros. script, in less gifted but certainly more handsome hands becomes the cipher-populated monument to production design that one could mistake an actual Coen Bros. film for with an undiscerning eye. All the same, its interesting to see a rough draft of ideas that they'd crib for other, better movies that followed the writing (right after Blood Simple) of this (there's that one scene from Miller's Crossing, and Burn After Reading...). Maybe next time Director person leave that stuff in the vault where you found it, if it was better those arch Minnesotan dudes woulda made it themselves.
Whereas The Snowman is a much more traditional, albeit handsomely mounted mess of a film. Even its minor elements have a prestigious gleam (Thelma Schoonmaker is on the editing team, and also, an editing team?!). Its a convoluted and inept mystery thriller that has a difficult time parsing out its labyrinthine plotting, defining its characters, or really doing anything else than making large contingents of its cast sullen and or souses. Its a slog. At least it all looks great (Tomas Alfredson is pretty comfortable in a snowbound setting). I mean, its not the worst mass market literature potboiler ever made, and sometimes its even unintentionally funny (although a shockingly unwell appearance from Val Kilmer provokes no mirth). But still, this a pretty bad film, and aside from its nice vistas and exceptional squandering of talent it provides little of interest.
