Critic Reviews
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) Rank 5 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (162) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Reviews by Score:
CinemaSense.Com: Movie Reviews of the Heart
Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
Snow Falling On Cedars leaves one with the feeling of having just finished a good novel; this is perhaps the highest praise one could offer a film based on a best-seller. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Boston Globe (Jay Carr)
The kind of richly layered film that Hollywood seldom attempts, much less brings off. But it's more than brought off here in grand, solid style and beautifully crafted detail. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Boston Globe (Jay Carr)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Uusually satisfying in the way it unfolds. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Scott Hicks' Snow Falling on Cedars, based on the best-selling novel by David Guterson, is one of the most anticipated releases of the Christmas season. Seeking to do justice to the book's complexity, the director employs a non-linear, multi-layered struc ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
Every now and then, thinking people need reminders to revive our own idealism. Those poignant images of the “internment” following Pearl Harbor alone make Hicks’ film worth a rental. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
Tracksounds! (Christopher Coleman)
Michael Dequina
Of course, there is a story here, and the primary one revolves around the 1950 trial of JapaneseAmerican Kazuo Miyamoto (Rick Yune), who is charged with murder. Kazuo is married to Hatsue (Youki Kudoh), whose heart truly belongs to the caucasian Ishmael ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Michael Dequina
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Throughout much of the film, Ishamael is obsessed by facts. ("Facts you can cling to; emotions just float away.") He insists that his profession, that of a reporter, is all about uncovering the truth. Not until the end does he understand what ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Cinematter (Matt Williams)
Scott Hicks directs this tale of a Japanese-American man (Rick Yune) on trial for murder. Ethan Hawke stars as a journalist covering the trial, whose childhood sweetheart married the accused. James Cromwell will play the judge. Max von Sydow, Youki ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Cinematter (Matt Williams)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
"Snow Falling on Cedars" is a rich, multilayered film about a high school romance and a murder trial a decade later. The young lovers are Ishmael Chambers (Ethan Hawke), son of the local ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
As an atmospheric listening experience, Snow Falling on Cedars is among
the better albums of the year. The cues are seamless, without an interruption by
any particularly weak track. It is the type of score that needs to appreciated
at high ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
Movielocity Movie Reviews (Blake Kunisch)
Snow Falling on Cedars is - in one word - gorgeous. The whole movie is beautiful from start to finish. The camera shots are breathtaking in the cedars, on the beach, on the ocean, every single one. Films like Snow Falling on Cedars don't come around too ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Movielocity Movie Reviews (Blake Kunisch)
Dustin Putman
Superficially a courtroom mystery, in which a young Japanese fisherman, Kazuo Miyamoto (Rick Yune) is being tried for the alleged murder of a man on a foginduced night in the Pacific Northwest, circa 1950, what the film truly is, at heart, is a moving ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Dustin Putman
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)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
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)
filmcritic.com's interview with director Scott Hicks
DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
The Art House Squatter
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)
Detroit News (Susan Stark)
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)
Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
filmcritic.com falls on Snow Falling on Cedars
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
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Xiibaro Productions (David Perry)
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)
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)
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
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)
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
The Phantom Tollbooth
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Movie-Page.com review
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Houston Community Newspapers (Gary Brown)
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)
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
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Political Film Society
Anchorage Press (Brenda Sokolowski)
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
eye WEEKLY (Jason Anderson)
BBC Films (Ben Falk)
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 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)
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)
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)
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.)
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)
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
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
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)
The Squiz: Cine Philes ("Guido Mezzabotta")
Mr. Showbiz (Larry Terenzi)
Hicks is far less interested in resolving dramatic conflicts than in framing shots. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Mr. Showbiz (Larry Terenzi)
Film Monthly (Doug White)
Moviereviews.org (Mac VerStandig)
Universal is marketing this film for Best Picture is an insult to the Academy’s intellect. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Moviereviews.org (Mac VerStandig)
Empire Magazine (--)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
Flawed, but fascinating. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
Oregon Herald (Jamie Peck)
Film Written Magazine
Box Office Magazine
Needcoffee.com - Movie Review
FilmHead.com (Matt Heffernan)
ShowBIZ Data
A Universal Release of a Harry J. Ufland, Ron Bass, Kennedy/Marshall Production; Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Harry Ufland, Ron Bass, Carol Baum and Lloyd A. Silverman; Co-produced by Richard Vane and David Guterson; Written by Ron Bass ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at ShowBIZ Data
Palo Alto Online (Leonard Schwarz)
Film.com (Robert Horton)
Not a crowd-pleasing, or even audience-oriented, movie; it's a two-hour-plus mood piece. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Film.com (Robert Horton)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Movies made from serious novels are often ridiculed as unworthy of their sources, but this one may be too worthy -- too reverent, too showy, too earnest. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
For all the beauty it struggles to bring forth, Snow Falling on Cedars is painfully prosaic. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
Time (Richard Schickel)
Essentially a liberal soap opera. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Time (Richard Schickel)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Has to fight to hold our attention and it doesn't always succeed. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
A prettily photographed yet morbidly gloomy movie. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
Ultimately there's something too measured, too controlled in his film. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
USA Today (Staff [Not Credited])
Compelling almost in spite of itself, thanks to the impressionistic imagery of cinematographer Robert Richardson. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at USA Today (Staff [Not Credited])
Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
Exceedingly blurred rendering of a simply told, artful novel. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
Globe and Mail (--)
Palo Alto Weekly (Leonard Schwarz)
Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies (Greg Dean Schmitz)
Snack Bar (Adam J. Hakari)
Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
Movie Habit (Ibsen Birgers)
San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)
As cosmetically sanitized revisions of history go: This is as good as it gets. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
For a film that features not only a doomed romance between members of different races, but also a courtroom murder-mystery that relies on last minute evidence to decide its outcome, "Snow Falling on Cedars" is strangely uncompelling. This is, after ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
MovieMaze (Thomas Brendel)
eFilmCritic.com (Greg Muskewitz)
Variety (Todd McCarthy)
Impeccably crafted but dramatically dull. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Variety (Todd McCarthy)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Never transports you to another place and time, as it intends to. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Film.com (Sean Means)
You just watch one carefully constructed but emotionally vacant image piled up on another - sometimes with regard to an overall effect, but often just for the sake of style over substance. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Film.com (Sean Means)
Dallas Observer (Bill Gallo)
This badly muddled adaptation of a complex novel chases after Guterson's many skeins and themes with no unifying principle in mind. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Dallas Observer (Bill Gallo)
eFilmCritic.com (Greg Muskewitz)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Casting Hawke as Ishmael Chambers in a mediocre movie version of Snow Falling on Cedars is pretty much the kiss of death. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
The year's most beautiful movie -- and surely one of the dullest. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
Reel.com
Watching von Sydow's withered, expressive face and listening to that deep, accented voice, it's impossible not to remember older, better films that knew how to convey complex emotions with originality and dash. What's perhaps most disturbing about Snow ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Reel.com
Reel Film Reviews (David Nusair)
It's really too bad about Snow Falling on Cedars. Here's a movie that's great to look at, features maybe Max Von Sydow's best performance and yet...it's duller than Madonna at a tupperware party. Ethan Hawke stars as a one-armed reporter following the ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Reel Film Reviews (David Nusair)
The New York Times (Stephen Holden)
Admirably high-minded and visually gorgeous but fatally anesthetized by its own grandiosity. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at The New York Times (Stephen Holden)
Newsweek (David Ansen)
All shots and no scenes, which is nice for a picture book but deadly for drama. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Newsweek (David Ansen)
Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Loaded with facile social themes, opaque characters, pointlessly intricate flashbacks, and inflated technique. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
LA Weekly (John Patterson)
The narrative chronology is so heavily hacked about, its tenses so addled and the material so thinly spread across so many characters, one can scarcely keep it straight in one's head without going cross-eyed. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at LA Weekly (John Patterson)
Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Looks exquisite, but don't bother digging deeper. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Bob Bloom
Unfortunately, that is not enough to sustain this snailpaced feature.The movie's biggest flaw is one common to most Hollywood films that deal with people of other cultures it approaches situations from a white, Western perspective.Set in postWorld War ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Bob Bloom
Baltimore Sun (Ann Hornaday)
Ultimately groans under the weight of its own quiet gorgeousness. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Baltimore Sun (Ann Hornaday)
New York Times (Stephen Holden)
Hollywood.com (Ted Murphy)
While there is undoubtedly a fine movie to be made from Snow Falling on Cedars , this version, despite some of the acting and the photography, is not it. ...read the complete Snow Falling on Cedars movie review at Hollywood.com (Ted Murphy)
from $7.99
(21 sellers)
User Reviews
User Comments
del.icio.us
Digg
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! My Web
Facebook
Google Bookmarks
ma.gnolia
Newsvine
reddit
Windows Live
