White Reindeer
Comedy. Directed by Zach Clark. With Anna Margaret Hollyman. (Not rated. 82 minutes.)
Suzanne’s husband has recently been murdered in their home – during the holiday season, no less – and she doesn’t know what hit her. Taking a break from crying, the Virginia real estate agent hitches up next to her dead spouse’s laptop, munching on a tomato salad as she studies the porn sites that he had frequently visited.
It’s one of many finely observed moments in “White Reindeer,” a film about grief and Christmas cheer that reveals a big heart without pulling its darkly comic punches.
The talented Anna Margaret Hollyman, who talks in a monotone yet still commands the screen from start to finish, plays Suzanne like a perky cheerleader who has dipped into someone’s quaalude stash. On the surface, she doesn’t seem so much overwhelmed with grief, as stultifyingly bored by it, to the point where she begins taking outrageous risks. It’s a tricky role, but Hollyman makes it believable, even when implausibilities show up from time to time.
At the beginning, director Zach Clark’s film plays like a high-concept tale, complete with a police investigation, before settling into a series of episodic set pieces that virtually ignore the setup. (It’s as if everyone in the movie, including Suzanne, forgot about the gruesome slaying.) But to Clark’s credit, most of the film’s scenes are unpredictable and filled with an interesting mix of pathos and humor.
That’s what gives this oddball movie its oddball appeal. Every time it threatens to devolve into sentimentality or cynicism, someone is there to take the reins.
David Lewis is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: davidlewis@sfchronicle.com
Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/White-Reindeer-review-Humor-pathos-come-5079896.php