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Judging from other reviews and comments, missing Guy Pearce's performance in 'Memento' helps appreciate 'First Snow'. Here he impressively fleshes out the script's thin characterization of Jimmy Stark, a traveling salesman and life-long huckster who becomes convinced his impending death was foretold by a roadside psychic. The chance encounter sets into motion events he torments himself and those around him to control, thrashing from one catastrophe to another uncertain of their significance. Ultimately everything matters, major and minor, past and present cleverly interlocking for a final resolution. It's a solid and memorable portrayal of a man simultaneously forced to face both his past and his fate.

As good as it is though it's trumped by J.K. Simmons' terrific and too-short portrayal of Vacaro, the middle-aged nomad living out a solitary existence with an old pickup and camper to show for his unique 'gift'. Here the film wonderfully avoids the usual dead Hollywood clichés (humourously contrasted and lampooned at one point) for a resigned true psychic who wants little more than to go fishing. Without histrionics or gesture Simmons is utterly convincing and engrossing throughout.

If only the same can be said of the sum. With two such strong performances focused on the universal question of fate vs. self-determination it's hard to put a finger on why the film never gels. The plot offers up enough clever and well though-out twists, events unfold naturally without reliance on astronomical coincidences to guide them, supporting characters are serviceable and the cinematography fine, yet the viewer is held at a disinterested distance. Part of the blame rests on the rushed and unsatisfying ending, some of it on where the film does rely on clichés to carry sub-plots - the usual romantic candle-lit tub scene for example to develop Jimmy's relationship with his live-in girlfriend. Only when Pearce and Simmons are on screen together did I care about the characters and those scenes were short.

Pearce and Simmons tack points on an otherwise promising but mid-pack film. 7/10.

FIRST SNOW is a relatively low budget vehicle for star Guy Pearce, attempting to plough the same sort of furrow as his superlative MEMENTO. The simplistic storyline sees the star given news of his impending death by a trailer-park psychic, at which point his life begins to unravel as he attempts to do all he can to avert impending disaster.

The story in this one is straightforward enough, but it's more of a mood piece than anything. The small town photography is excellent and there's a cast of eccentrics and seasoned professionals who help to bring the story to life; Shea Wigham, William Fichtner, and J.K. Simmons are the stand-outs here. Pearce is excellent, as he always has been, and the director builds a genuine sense of foreboding as the narrative heads for its inevitable conclusion. My only real fault is that the twist ending is way, way too obvious.

Is it destiny or did you make it happen? Are you going to die regardless of what you do to avoid it, or do you make decisions that result in your death? This neo noir with Guy Pearce (Momento, The Proposition, L.A. Confidential) was well written and exciting from start to finish.

Pearce made a perfect sleazy salesman and Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly) has shown she can do a good dramatic role. I thought she was really good.

The story keeps you guessing until the very end. Did things happen because they were destined to happen, or did he choose to be in that place in that time.

"Fate rules the affairs of mankind with no recognizable order." Seneca

Guy Pearce confirmed his cult status with his tortured Leonard of Memento. Writing notes to himself because of his serious short term memory loss, he pursues a putative killer of his wife. Now in First Snow Pearce as Jimmy Starks pursues another threat, his imminent death disclosed by a fortune teller. The theme of fate versus determinism-- Can anyone alter his destiny?-- is provocatively introduced but only partially developed beyond plot demands for someone avoiding death.

The expectations for a thematically heavy duty, time challenged thriller like Christopher Nolan's Memento are not always in Mike Fergus's First Snow, a semi-entertaining thriller slow in many parts and hardly challenging other than seeing Pearce put his indie-strange stamp on a mediocre knockoff of his most famous role. Here he displays his usual taut physical and mental persona but without any puzzling character depths other than selling old Wurlitzer juke boxes and flooring while touting shoulder-length hair and attitude incommensurate with the nowhere character he inhabits.

The New Mexico setting is just right for the new-age ambiance of the occult and existentialism. This region has had its cult status confirmed with the many UFO sightings and the starkly haunting work of Georgia O'Keefe. Chris Martinez's minimalist score punctuates the spare emotional landscape.

Jimmy's palm reader, Vacaro (a wonderfully weary J.K. Simmons), says, "I saw no more roads, no more tomorrows. But you're safe until the first snow." The script doesn't allow Jimmy to go too far beyond disbelief at this prophecy into whether or not one can be happy knowing the future. Try he will to alter that future but without intellectual resolution for the audience.

More promising is the redemption motif in which he must face a recently- released-from-prison former business partner, who went up the river because of Jimmy's testimony and who may now wish to exact his due. How Jimmy faces this prophetic return is not well enough dissected, but it remains an energetic coda to an otherwise sporadically interesting study of personal responsibility and fate.

FIRST SNOW involves a trade off. The action is slow, but there is a fairly compelling narrative. The story involves a brash young salesman who engages the services of a truck stop fortune teller, and finds that his life is nearly over. He's safe only until the first snow. Jimmy, played by Guy Pearce, must plan a course of action to determine the veracity of the prediction, and then act on his finding. FIRST SNOW creates a visual mood, and takes its' own sweet time to unfold. The film is a psychological thriller with the feel of a noirish foreign film. The two writers on this project collaborated on the far superior film, CHILDREN OF MEN, but FIRST SNOW makes a clever attempt to resolve the following conundrum. Our fate lies on whatever road we decide to take, yet nothing makes the gods laugh harder than when Man attempts to control his destiny. Guy Pearce's MEMENTO is a much better examination of the effect of predetermined events, but FIRST SNOW is certainly worth a look.

Basically, without going into a lot of detail covered by many here already, you get a pretty good idea just from the review summaries for this film that many found it really well done, moody, and a great concept, BUT... unfortunately I felt that it was ultimately watered down by the ending chosen by the film makers (or possibly yet ANOTHER stupid studio interference...)

So, without entering any Spoiler territory, if you can excuse or overlook the completely OBVIOUS and somewhat ham-handed ending, and just sit back and enjoy the rest of the film, it actually is quite good and intriguing, and you probably will like it for the most part. And, Guy Pearce's acting is superb...

But... I REALLY would have given my left nut (the smaller of the two) if they had just left the ending far more ambiguous and moody, just like the rest of this excellent film. I basically gave it about 2 stars less than I would have normally for a film of this overall quality; specifically because of the poor way in which I feel that they handled the ending...

(I undress further, oh, excuse me... I mean, ADDRESS this further in a much more detailed SPOILER laden thread here in the discussion section for this film below...)

Intriguing but ultimately uneven film that has it's best moments when Guy Pearce and J K Simmons are on screen together. It does not work so much when they are not, which is the bigger part of the film of course.It is a bitty film and the biggest element against the film is the fact that, you don't care enough for Pearce's character.Not a bad film just very average.

As soon as i read the cast for this movie i knew i would enjoy it. Pearce Perabo and Fitchner all give fine performances. At first glance you may think the plot line is cliché and overly simplistic, and you may be right, but it is the way the story is told, the setting, and the great performance from Guy Pearce that will really suck you in and have you thinking about this movie for long after it is over. This is the kind of movie that is good for multiple viewings. Even though i've only seen it once, im sure you would pick up more bits and pieces form watching it a second time around. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys physchological thrillers that make you think. This is not for action junkies that can't enjoy a movie unless it layed out in front of them.

if i could use two words to describe this film,i would have to say it is melancholy and haunting.that's the mood that pervades the film.Guy Pierce once again proves he s real talent in this film.he plays a shady,slimy kind of guy.not a criminal,but just someone who's a b.s. artist.but then he meets someone that changes things.beyond that,you'll have to watch the movie.the title is actually quite relevant and self explanatory,which is nice.i don't see myself watching this movie again anytime soon as i just found it too bleak.but it was definitely worth watching once,mostly for the performance of Guy Pierce.for me,First Snow is a 6/10

First Snow is a slow, moody, slightly tedious and bland film which brings nothing new to the genre. It does deliver some good acting performances.

Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce) is a sleazy but slick salesman who in the past has avoided jail time for money laundering. His old friend Vincent (Shea Whigham) was not so lucky and did end up in jail.

When his car breaks down in a small town in New Mexico, slightly bored Jimmy visits a fortune teller operating from a RV. The seer Vacaro (JK Simmons) tells him something shocking that Jimmy has a stark future which will end once the first snows of winter falls.

Jimmy has to learn to accept his fate but there are many incidents that could spell his end, yet we always think that Jimmy has brought it upon himself.

You can't go wrong with Guy Pearce and J K Simmons as the lead characters. Interesting film which is ultimately a story of redemption. Good screenwriting and direction and moves along at a good pace.

Once you've seen Pearce in Memento it's difficult to be critical of him in any film but this performance reflects well on him.

never heard of Guy Pearce before I think he did a remarkable job given for someone I never heard of.. this movie has a very interesting premise. you go to a fortune teller to get you're future told to you, and then you get hit with the hammer over the head, you're only gonna be safe up until a certain time, then all bets are off. what would you do , and how would you go about trying to alter the course of what god has in store for you, this is what attracted me to the movie once I understood what was going on. I liked all of the plot twists and the scenery in the picture was also very nice. our main character tries to do several things to try an alter the almost certain outcome, and it's sorta like a psychological thriller in his journey to overcome what has been presented to him by the fortune teller. pretty darn good movie I will watch again soon.

What can I say...not much to this one at all. Pretty dull and uninteresting.

The actors performances are just OK. The only one that shines in any way is Simmons, but he only has, maybe 3 scenes. I understand that by keeping his screen time to a minimum he retains the mysterious psychic aura he has, but I can't help but feel his talent was wasted. No one else rose above mediocre.

The story itself seems like it may be intriguing at the beginning, but then just doesn't go anywhere. There wasn't a single scene in the movie that impressed me or made me feel like I had just seen something special. The cinematography was fairly bland...I mean desert in a washed out sort of sepia...not very inspiring.

The story of his childhood pal back outta prison seemed only partially thought out and didn't really add anything to the story, other than making an average 'Twilight Zone' script into a full length feature.

Drab.

A traveling flooring-salesman, Jimmy Starks, which rather would sell nostalgia in a Wurlitzer jukebox, is stranded in a godforsaken place in this film by director Mark Fergus. First time director fop this writer. Well, when he waits for his car do be fixed, he goes to a fortune teller, just to kill time. The fortune teller gets a shock when he discovers something in his future. Starks wants to know more, but is forced to leave. Soon he understands the fortune teller wasn't a con man. A trip to the doctor tells that his hart has a problem.

That's the start of this interesting film, which right off starts to creep under your skin. But the film doesn't all the way hold up the great tension and excitement is promises at the beginning. Fine acting by Guy Pearce (playing Starks), J.K. Simmons (the fortune teller), Piper Persbo (Deirdre) and William Fichtner (Ed Jacomoi) helps bringing this forward. A great cast, well directed. Pearce once again plays a fine role, and here maybe one of his best ever.

The title is not telling very much in beforehand, except that it puts the film into a genre of these cold, bleak mysteries. But it has some significance, of course. The film has certain similarities with "The machinist" which has a similar ways of paranoia, and it also has a tad of a Hitchcocky feel. The bleak colors are also a similarity here, as is the the great acting.

The film is slow and poetic, which the late autumn and early winter adds to, but the film still holds both some lingering excitement and the fear of the unexpected around next corner. Though at the same take the film makes you think of this an everyday story. As such a quality film, and still holding in to a deeper meaning for those who inhale it. For others it will be too slow, artful and even boring. A good film, though it didn't really touch into my heart, like I though from the opening.

"First Snow" has an intriguing beginning. A traveling salesman has his fortune told by an old man, who's predictions turn out to be amazingly correct. From this point on the movie plays out like a bloated "Twilight Zone" episode. I mean nothing but car trips, phone calls and paranoia. William Fichtner gives his usual interesting performance, but Guy Pierce is anything but a sympathetic character, disregarding other people's well being for the sake of his own paranoia. The ending is especially weak, with absolutely no payoff for the long suffering audience. Do yourself a big favor and avoid this one. Not recommended. - MERK

First Snow is a movie of which the plot can be outlined in a minute. A man (Pearce) is stuck in a little town on the side of the highway where the only attraction is the psychic (Simmons). He spits out some normal predictions, then freaks out and says he doesn't see a future for Pearce's character. Pearce laughs it off, but after all the other predictions come true, he goes back to the same guy. He says this time: "You will be safe until the first snow"

Of course, the clichéd plot line would be that he goes paranoid beyond belief, which for part of it is like this, but the film sets up multiple possibilities of his death that keep you intrigued. The film could have many alternate endings because of all the other ways he could die that are set up in the movie.

But the ending is perfect. The last shot of the film is the best I've ever seen except for Glory and maybe The Shawshank Redepmtion. I also feel J.K. Simmons and William Fichtner both gave performances worthy of a Best Supporting Actor Nomination, more Fichtner than Simmons, but since it is April it's doubtful they'll stand a chance in Oscar season. The screenplay is top notch and Oscar-Worthy as well.

But the movie fall short of a 10/10 because it no suspense is built. For this kind of film, suspense is necessary. But everything else is really good in this movie. But you should still see this movie, especially if you're into fate or destiny related movies

Interesting premise and excellent acting, but ultimately a barely average film due to a boring plot and setting.

The good: Guy Pearce and J K Simmons are always good.

The bad: But even they can't save a poorly written script that simply fails to be engaging despite a clever set up.

At times hypnotically beautiful, at others inscrutable. This is certainly one of those "good in parts" films. Highlights include Guy Pearce's performance, with some lovely nuances and "moments", as well as the always-brilliant JK Simmons. Lowlights are the glacial pace and non-sequitur/blind alley storyline. Difficult to recommend, but impossible to dismiss, a film that sits squarely in the middle of the love/hate spectrum.