Leofwine_draca I watched this film because the DVD cover fooled me. It renamed the movie as ABANDONED and featured an intense cover featuring a snowbound corpse and what looked like a hunter. Could it be an horror/thriller type film? The answer is nothing like. This is instead a small, community-focused drama entitled ANGELS CREST, made in Canada, and a film where virtually nothing happens for the entire running time.The story is about a little kid who wanders off in the snow and ends up dying. This proceeds to act as a catalyst for all the relationships between the local townsfolk to implode at which point everybody blames each other, scapegoats emerge, and everyone spends the whole movie arguing. A few familiar faces, like Elizabeth McGovern and Mira Sorvino, show up and give quite horrid performances. There's very little incident and just a whole lot of unlikeable characters who you just wish would get off the screen. No atmosphere, no suspense, and very little drama, ANGELS CREST is a real bore.

G Connolly There is nothing challenging in the screenplay of this film, and the decision seems to have been taken to create a movie of a kind of easy access. It tries to treat a terrible occurrence in everyday lives, in a normal, small town community in those very terms, without making anything sensational.The film deals with issues which are always relevant to so many people - loss, guilt, coping, addiction and, let me say kind of demonology perhaps in authority - in the most basic terms. Unlike similar kinds of films, this one never thinks it knows, never thinks it has to go beyond the fundamental realities of these situations in order to picture them well. For me, this leaves a lasting impression and means that I can think about these issues actually, much more easily than if I had not seen this film. That's a rare occurrence in movies, to me. Usually I find that my mind is vacuumed by the end of a film, whether or not it was said to "deal with" issues or treat issues for discussion or awareness in the audience.A nice, serious film which seems to present something of real life. Certainly of real life concerns, without patronising, feeling the need to suggest that life is more than life really is, nor getting lost in a fictional world of fantasies that have no real meaning for humans today.There are twists, and the elements develop which allow the viewer to make conclusions for himself / herself. This then becomes the essence of this movie beyond the lovely cinematography, the latter becoming as an echo the expression of the ongoing, inexplicable beauty in life, a backdrop to the pain, struggles and torture.Though the script is simple, with no pretensions or irrelevant ambitions, some viewers looking for something else may consider this a weakness in the film. For myself, it is a very strong point in a well crafted piece, from original idea, through very good, simple dramatic acting, to a full, beautiful, simple, understated presentation in the whole production.

taclark The power of this film depends on your perspective. Have you raised a 3-year old? Have you experienced the death of a child? Most importantly, is the story believable and can you put yourself in to it?Unfortunately, few watching this film know it mirrors the real life story of Paul Wayment and his son Gage: The following are excerpts (Spoilers) from the real story found on pulitzer.org: "Six inches of snow covered the small body. Gage lay in a fetal position, his hands clenched, his eyes wide open. His pajama legs were up to knees; his feet had worn through his thin booties. His throat was blue. In his eyes were frozen tears." Paul Wayment's statement to the court: "If I could change places with my son, I would give up my life without question. But I can't. The life that I now live in is the hell that I alone created. The pain is incomprehensible. . . . The word 'sorry' does not even begin to express the feelings I now live with. . . . I admit full responsibility for my actions and will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate." "They found his body (the father) on a sloping ridge next to a pair of binoculars, a Pepsi Big Gulp and a Winchester .243 hunting rifle. He'd picked a spot, surrounded by quaking aspens, that provided a view of the hills where they'd searched for Gage. Julie George imagined his final afternoon. He'd sat with the binoculars, surveying where Gage died. At sunset--he would have waited for his beloved dusk--he'd put down the binoculars and picked up the rifle." "At the courthouse that afternoon, (Judge) Hilder sat dazed in his chambers. Tears filled his eyes."http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2002-Feature-Writing Knowing the real story makes this film, Angel's Crest, much, much more powerful. It's too bad Angel's Crest wasn't made to be a true story with a follow up explanation at the end telling of the ongoing lives of the people involved.Those that have rated this film poorly or written unflattering reviews might want to watch it again after reading the true-life story.

gradyharp ANGELS CREST is not a perfect movie: there are so many undeveloped sidebars that keeping everyone in a place where they seem to fit into the tale is difficult. But there are some powerful performances here and some cause for reflection that makes the movie very worthwhile watching. Based on the novel by the same name written by Leslie Schwartz, adapted for the screen by Catherine Trieschmann, and directed by Gaby Dellal, the story deals with numerous interactions of a small town populated with alcoholics, drug abusers, adulterers, and other strange types and how they deal with a tragedy that makes no sense. Nate Denton (Ameko Eks Mass Carroll) is a 3 year old son of Ethan Denton (Thomas Dekkar in a breakout performance that deserves attention) who awakens one morning in his pathetic home to tell his beloved single dad that it is snowing. The father/son bond is strong and Ethan dresses them both to go out to view the beauty of the snowy countryside in their old truck. When they arrive at a perfect spot, Ethan turns to the backseat to take Nate out to make snowmen, but Nate has fallen asleep in this safety car seat. Ethan makes the truck warm, locks the truck and walks out to view the spectacle of winter, the deer, and the eloquent mountains. In a few minutes he returns - and Nate is gone! Ethan is terrified, begins shouting his son's name as he searches for him. The town is alerted and a search party begins. Nate's mother alcoholic mother Cindy (Lynn Collins) is notified of Nate's missing and begins her tirade on every person she meets. After an overnight search for Nate, Ethan discovers Nate's frozen body and is devastated. Ethan is taken into custody for a death stemming from negligence and the townspeople form sides as to Ethan's guilt. Among them is a waitress Angie (Mira Sorvino) and her small daughter Rosie (Emma Macgillivray), Ethan's friend Rusty (Joseph Morgan), a lesbian couple (Elizabeth McGovern and Kate Walsh), Cindy's preachy mother (Barbara Williams). and the local police. The town brings in the District Attorney (Jeremy Piven) who obviously has secrets of his won that mirror Ethan's crisis. The story is resolved in a strange and tragic manner, leaving many crises unsolved.Thomas Dekkar gives such a fine performance that we are able to see inside his heart and head and soul. The supporting cast conveys the small town response to a tragedy among their own - who is guilty of what and how could the incident have ever occurred. There are many ideas created by the writers and the characters that are never realized fully, but the sense of human response to an accident is staggeringly real. There is much more to this film in retrospect, after watching it, that haunts the viewer. Grady Harp