The supremely underappreciated Barry Pepper gets his Cast Away--or maybe it's his Dances with Wolves--in this captivating Canadian film about a WWII veteran bush pilot who crashes in the remote arctic Northwest Territories, circa 1953, while transporting a sick Inuit woman (Annabella Piugattuk, in a lovely debut) to a doctor. Both survive, and while Pepper's character is initially dismissive of his passenger, over the course of their odyssey of survival, she teaches him to spearfish, eat gopher, and hunt caribou, and he comes to appreciate the woman, her culture, and the harsh yet beautiful landscape. Director Charles Martin Smith (star of Never Cry Wolf)--working from a story by acclaimed writer Farley Mowat--nicely avoids becoming overtly romantic or sentimental, while keeping Pepper's pilot just on the other side of likeability: we want him to survive, but also feel he genuinely needs this awakening. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include cast and crew interviews and a "making-of" featurette. Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for a small but solid film.] (M. Johanson)
The Snow Walker
First Look, 109 min., PG, VHS: $57.99, DVD: $24.99, May 31 Volume 20, Issue 4
The Snow Walker
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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