Critic Reviews
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) Rank 3 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (162) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
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Baltimore City Paper (Ian Grey)
San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Just off the Washington shore, a fisherman is found dead in his own nets with a wound to the head. Murder is supected and the only suspect is another fisherman, who happens to be Japanese in a time when post-WWII sentiments are stacked against him. Now he ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
AsSnow Falling on Cedarsopens, we're on the ocean, off San Pietro Island along the Washington coast. It's a pitch-black winter night in 1950.As a rare beam of light breaks through, it catches gently falling snowflakes before they ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
filmcritic.com's interview with director Scott Hicks
DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
The Art House Squatter
Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Detroit News (Susan Stark)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
Matinee Magazine (Chuck Rudolph)
Hicks and cinematographer Robert Richardson give this interdicted love affair an emotional immediacy with the sheer brute force of their images. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Matinee Magazine (Chuck Rudolph)
Murali Krishnan
Although the events of Kazuo's trial form the primary component of the plot, the heart of the story is the relationship between Ishmael and Hatsue, and the forces that doomed it. Director Scott Hicks skillfully intermixes the two parallel stories. Their ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Murali Krishnan
Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Reflective, deliberate, building gradually to a climax that left me touched. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Xiibaro Productions (David Perry)
filmcritic.com falls on Snow Falling on Cedars
Cineclub-Filmkritik
DVD Verdict (Norman Short)
Moovees.com (Jay Tierney)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Teen Movie Critic (Vivian Rose)
The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
Salon (Andrew O'Hehir)
As Australian director Scott Hicks explains in his commentary on "Snow Falling on Cedars," his adaptation of David Guterson's bestselling novel is constructed as a process of gradual revelation. As beautiful and memorable as this film is, image by image ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Salon (Andrew O'Hehir)
Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
Boston Phoenix (Peter Keough)
Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
Reel.com DVD review (Vanessa Vance)
AmateurHomeTheater.com
B Fatt. & Lazy Movie Reviews
Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
Wait 'till it comes out at the second runs or on video. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
TV Guide (Ken Fox)
Flawed, but fascinating, this somber adaptation of David Guterson's award-winning novel is sometimes sluggish and difficult to follow, but it's also unexpectedly poetic. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at TV Guide (Ken Fox)
CultureDose.net (John Nesbit)
Cinemaphile.org (David Keyes)
Parent Previews
Even though nine years
have past since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
Kazuo Miyamoto (Rick Yume) feels there is little hope of
defending himself when he is accused of murder. After
all, the jury is ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Parent Previews
Reel.com (Ray Greene)
The Phantom Tollbooth
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Houston Community Newspapers (Gary Brown)
Movie-Page.com review
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Fails to completely engage the viewer at the basic level of story. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
As good as it is in many ways, the film is not as emotionally gripping as it should be, and comes off as a rather predictable liberal statement. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
culturevulture.net, Choices for the Cognoscenti
Most movies about racism make society out to be either much better or much worse off than it really is, and end by offering a mushy-headed optimism or impotent outrage in lieu of insight. What might be our most famous movie about racial prejudice, To ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at culturevulture.net, Choices for the Cognoscenti
Political Film Society
Anchorage Press (Brenda Sokolowski)
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
BBC Films (Ben Falk)
eye WEEKLY (Jason Anderson)
PopMatters (Renee Scolaro Rathke)
Philadelphia City Paper (Sam Adams)
Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Text This Week Movie Concordance
Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
La Movie Boeuf (David N. Butterworth)
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Everything is muted (except the orchestral soundtrack). The potentially exciting courtroom drama is toned down, the potentially passionate love between Ishmael and Hatsue is glossed over, Ishmael's dilemma is tossed out without really examining it -- ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
There has never been a movie more literally true to its title -- this is indeed a movie with many long, loving scenes of snow falling on cedars. There are also scenes of raindrops plopping in puddles and autumn leaves blowing and children running on the ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
filmcritic.com (Athan Bezaitis)
The transformation of an intricate novel into a successful film can be a daunting task. Filmmakers must effectively generate symbolism and imagery onto the screen, instead of allowing the readers to interpret it for themselves. That's why people are ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at filmcritic.com (Athan Bezaitis)
Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)
Director Scott Hicks uses annoying flashbacks and camera tricks, along with layered dialogue that makes it practically impossible to follow what is going on. He was looking to create a visual ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)
Scott Renshaw
This background is offered to make it clear that my ambivalence towards Scott Hicks' SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS has nothing to do with affection for the source material. It also sets up the problem with the film, which is the same problem I had with the ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Scott Renshaw
Steve Rhodes
Cutting back and forth in time and locale, Hicks only confuses the viewers. One time we witness 10yearolds having sex only to realize that Hicks has tricked us again. The people inside the dimly lit cedar tree are now closer to the age of consent than 10. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Steve Rhodes
Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
When a tight shot of freshly caught fish gasping
for air on the puddled floorboards of a small fishing
boat is saturated with all the aesthetics of a Renoir
painting ... you know you're in for an ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
What I didn't need was Australian director/writer of "Cedars," Scott Hicks (" Shine "), to tell me what a bad thing the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II was for a little over two hours of a darkly photographed film and then precede ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
The wonderful 1994 book by David Guterman has been turned into a visually brilliant but really boring movie by Director Scott Hicks ( Shine ). Perhaps if you didn't read the book you would like it better than I did. It is about a murder trial on an ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
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