''First Snow'' is a 2006 thriller starring

Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young in the Australian television series ''Neighbours ...

and directed by Mark Fergus. The film was released on March 23, 2007.

Plot

Slick salesman Jimmy Starks ( Pearce) has auto problems in a small New Mexico town and while his car is in the shop he visits low-rent fortune teller Vacaro ( J.K. Simmons) to pass the time. The supposed seer tells him he will have good fortune soon, but looking deeper relates the information that his future is blank, and he is safe only until the first snow of winter beyond which there is no future to foretell. The act upsets Jimmy and rekindles old transgressions and makes him feel he is on a collision course with destiny especially when an old friend Vincent (

Shea Whigham Franklin Shea Whigham Jr. (born January 5, 1969) is an American actor best known for portraying Elias "Eli" Thompson in the drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also appeared in the first season of ''True Detective'' and the third season of ' ...

) returns from a jail sentence that was longer because Jimmy "sold him out." Jimmy becomes obsessed with knowing more of his future and re-visits Vacaro but the old man can only tell the salesman that he has related to him all he can see. Jimmy feels that Vincent has returned to kill him and that he must do something to change the course of his future but Vacaro convinces him to accept his fate. One theme referenced in the film (by the radio announcer) is the idea of the

Sword of Damocles A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed tip ...

Cast

as Jimmy Starks *

Piper Perabo Piper Lisa Perabo () (born October 31, 1976) is an American actress. Following her breakthrough in the comedy-drama film '' Coyote Ugly'' (2000), she starred in ''The Prestige'' (2006), ''Angel Has Fallen'' (2019), and as CIA agent Annie Walke ...

as Dierdre *

J. K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He i ...

as Vacaro *

William Fichtner William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on ''Invasion'', Alexander Mahone on ''Prison Break'', Carl Hickman on '' Crossing Lines'', and Adam Janikowski o ...

as Ed *

Rick Gonzalez Rick Gonzalez (born June 30, 1979) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Timo Cruz in the motion picture ''Coach Carter'', as Spanish in '' Old School'', as Ben Gonzalez on the CW supernatural drama television series ' ...

as Andy Lopez *

as Vincent *

Jackie Burroughs Jacqueline "Jackie" Burroughs (2 February 1939 – 22 September 2010) was a British-born Canadian actress. Early life Born in Southport, Lancashire (now Merseyside), England, she emigrated to Canada on 26 August 1948 with her mother Edna, ...

as Maggie * Adam Scott as Tom Morelane * Portia Dawson as Tavern Waitress Marci * Luce Rains as Roy Harrison *

Dave Mallow Dave Mallow (born October 19, 1948) is a retired American voice actor. Biography Mallow's father worked in radio and television and was a 30-year on-air veteran at Chicago's WGN. After graduating from Maine South High School, Mallow attained a ...

(voice, uncredited) as Radio Announcer

Critical reception

, the film holds a 58% approval rating on aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 74 reviews with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "In ''First Snow'', an interesting premise gives way to a slow and tedious noir that adds little to the genre."

Home media

''First Snow'' was released on Blu-ray in Italy on 6 July 2010, France 1 April 2011 and in the United States 16 June 2020.

References

External links

* *
Yahoo! Movies entry
* 2006 films 2006 psychological thriller films American psychological thriller films Films scored by Cliff Martinez Films set in New Mexico Films shot in New Mexico Films with screenplays by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby 2006 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{psychological-thriller-film-stub