Review of Snow in August

I knew nothing about this film going in, but it grabbed me almost from the first frame. I found myself choking up and totally absorbed, as the boy faced the dilemma of whether to be a "stoolie" and do the right thing, or keep quiet and let a vicious beating of an elderly Jewish store clerk by a late teen anti-semitic thug go unpunished. The first 75 minutes were riveting. I won't give away the ending, but suffice it to say, I am always disappointed when Biblical stories or allegories are presented literally in film. It may make for an ending that is deserving, but it avoids dealing honestly with the conundrum the story has presented. What was very touching and realistic, turned into a fantasy, and even if that's what the book it is based on did, I still felt seriously let down. Were it not for this, I would have rated it a 10.