White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Main characters were all more or less disturbing, the only one I praised was the detective. Eva Green was creepy and she did overall a decent job with her role. Soundtrack was good and psychedelic, matching the story. Not a watch-again movie but not bad either.

White Girl in a Blizzard follows a girl trying to discover what has happened to her mother via flashbacks. This is an intriguing film that concentrates on how her mother going missing affects the daughter. The real mystery of the film though is just what did happen to her mother. It doesn't follow traditional storytelling techniques and bounces from place to place. This will annoy some but I think it made it a bit different to many mystery stories.I can't say I was taken with the manic performance of Eva Green as the mom which I found annoying and which detracted from the film. Thankfully though the film is driven along by great performances from Shailene Woodley as the daughter and also Christopher Meloni as the Dad. This is a strange film in many ways and far from flawless but it always grabs your attention and is a welcome change from many of today's predictable mystery thrillers. If you don't mind something a bit different this is well worth watching.

In 1988, a teenage girl's life is thrown into chaos when her mother disappears. The problem with White Bird in a Blizzard is how it chooses to use represent it's characters and how it's so tough to actually feel bad about someone in this movie for example it was really weird to see Thomas Jane and Shailene Woodley sleeping together, the word F*ck was in like every single scene and the ending was horrible in more ways than one. Now the good stuff except the nude scenes Woodley is very different both in the way she looks and acts and she really challenged herself a lot, Eva Green was good but her character didn't got enough screen time, Christopher Meloni ruined the film for me he was good until that ending came out this film is definitely much better than Gone Girl which was pretty dull and full of horrible characters but don't except anything more than just an alright film with a good idea, great actors and a very awful ending (6.4/10)

A curiously combined genre mashing of coming of age story and suburban mystery, famed indie director Greg Araki's adaptation of Laura Kasischke's book White Bird in a Blizzard is anything but formulaic which will alienate many viewers with its obscure tone but also win over its portion of fans with a narrative that remains constantly engaging even when things get undeniably weird.With more than a dollop of David Lynch and even a hint of Tim Burton in the mix here, Araki has crafted an almost dreamlike state of a movie that often finds just the right amount of seriousness and curios. The central plot line of Shailene Woodley's Kat Connors, a teen growing up amidst the strange and out of nowhere disappearance of her struggling with the mundanities of life wife and stay at home mum Eve, is but a jumping off point for Araki to explore a range of emotions felt by those going through adolescence and in doing so he creates a film that is all at once both reflective and relatable and also highly unusual. Paramount to Blizzard's success as a feature film is the increasingly impressive Woodley who is the heart and soul of this dark tale.So good in smaller budget character studies like The Descendants and the fantastic The Spectacular Now, it's great to see Woodley once more shy away from the likes of Fault in our Stars and the dreary double pronged attack of Divergent and Insurgent and Blizzard could just be her most astute performance yet in what is a role that requires her both emotionally and psychically to bare quite a bit. Outside of Woodley's turn there is sadly yet another overblown Eva Green performance who is quickly becoming one of the most irritating performers on the big screen but in some ways her troubled character of Eve requires some left of field antics.Filmed with a finely sensed humour and some downright darkness, White Bird in a Blizzard is a film all unto its own and a film that could just become a new favourite for those that like their films more Donnie Darko than The Avengers. With an unsuspecting final act bookending an always intriguing set up, Blizzard is a quiet and low key achievement that ranks as one of Araki's most efficient and evocative films and yet another showcase for Woodley's exciting career trajectory.3 ½ awkward dinner invites out of 5