This is curiously plot-bound for writer-director David Gordon Green – even adapted from someone else’s written work (a novel by Stewart O’Nan). The result is something like an extremely elegant episode of “The Jerry Springer Show.” Set in a small grubby town, Snow Angels explores the desperate lives of a waitress and mother (a deglammed Kate Beckinsale) who is in the midst of a divorce from her needy husband (Sam Rockwell); the smitten teen (Michael Angarano) who works with her at a Chinese restaurant; her occasional lover (Nicky Katt); and his wife (Amy Sedaris), who also works at the restaurant. There are a few jolts of tragedy to distinguish the proceedings, but mostly this is notable for Green’s delicate touches. The scenes between Angarano and Olivia Thirlby, as two teens tiptoeing around courtship, once again show the director’s knack for the mumbled affection of young love.
