Angels Crest

Somber tragedy strikes the snowy, working-class, titular Rocky Mountains town when a loving father accidentally causes the death of his 3-year-old son. Ethan Denton (Thomas Dekker) has custody of young Nathan because his estranged wife, Cindy (Lynn Collins), is an irresponsibly abusive alcoholic. On a woodland adventure one morning, Ethan leaves his son strapped into his car seat asleep in a locked pickup while leaving for a few minutes to track deer. Ethan returns to find that Nathan has, inexplicably, disappeared, setting into motion a massive hunt that ends horrifically with Ethan's discovery of Nathan's frozen body. A dour district attorney (Jeremy Piven) is determined to bring Ethan to trial for criminally negligent homicide, but the townsfolk are torn about where the blame lies. Diner owner Angie (Mira Sorvino) is convinced that Ethan was careless. Empathetic waitress Jane's (Elizabeth McGovern) heart goes out to sorrowful Ethan, a sentiment not shared by her lesbian partner (Kate Walsh), who's in a foul mood because Jane's penniless, homophobic, grown son has moved in with his pregnant girlfriend. Cindy's devout mother (Barbara Williams) resents the fact that she didn't take custody of Nathan, and Ethan's best buddy (Joseph Morgan) regrets that he was bedding Cindy when Ethan called him to help with the search. Based on Leslie Schwartz's novel, director Gaby Dellal's film unfortunately fails to successfully develop these interdependent suffering characters. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Gaby Dellal (14 min.) interviews with star Thomas Dekker (16 min.) and costar Mira Sorvino (10 min.), an HDNet behind-the-scenes featurette (5 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)