# The Snowman (no spoilers in OP) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428 "2017-10-21T12:47:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/1 "2017-10-21T12:47:07Z")
Given the reviews of the movie, and the negative stories coming about about it, I highly doubt anyone here saw it other than me, but anyone have any opinions? I am a huge fan of Jo Nesbo and love the Harry Hole series. And as a fan of the series I can safely say that the writers of the movie and Michael Fassbender absolutely NAILED Harry. His mannerisms, language and overall aura is spot on. As for the movie itself, it’s really not as bad as the reviews say it is. There’s a horribly confusing/not needed backstory with Val Kilmer (where he is insanely overdubbed), but other than that, it’s a perfectly fine slow-paced thriller. Obviously the book is better, but the movie does a pretty good job of adapting it. There aren’t too many story changes and the biggest change in the killer’s character is something that never really needed to be there to begin with. I wouldn’t say to go out and see it in the theater RIGHT NOW! But if you’re a fan of the book series, it’s a pretty good see ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/2 "2017-10-22T23:23:57Z")
I saw the trailer for it, and I wasn’t sure if it was a deadpan parody or not. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/3 "2017-10-23T01:35:39Z")
I’m just annoyed that it will make it harder to Google the old animated Christmas movie ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/4 "2017-10-23T03:36:28Z")
Oh god it was horrible! So so bad! I found it so confusing, and not in a dense convoluted story type way, but rather “half this movie feels like it’s on the editing room floor.” Which makes sense since I read afterwards that the director said he wasn’t able to film 15% of the screenplay! Characters were there for no reason (what was the point of JK Simmons again?) and their motivations for so many things made absolutely no sense, including the killer. The Val Kilmer thing was just fucking _weird_! I feel like I’ve seen better dubbing in 1970s kung fu movies. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/5 "2017-10-23T13:51:33Z")
The trailer kinda sorta interested me, but the reviews have sucked. Looks like lots of production problems. No chance I’ll see it now: [The Snowman (2017 film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snowman_(2017_film)) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/6 "2017-10-23T13:52:33Z")
Why is Val Kilmer dubbed? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/7 "2017-10-23T14:20:55Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I saw the trailer for it, and I wasn’t sure if it was a deadpan parody or not. I read your post, and for a moment wasn’t sure if I’d written it or not. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/8 "2017-10-23T15:39:19Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Why is Val Kilmer dubbed? From what I have read, they were altering the film as they edited (because they didn’t have time to film all the script) and Kilmer wasn’t available to do new VO’s. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/9 "2017-10-23T16:08:15Z")
Knowing nothing about it except for the promo picture of (presumably the serial killer), is there supposed to be someone dressed up as a Q-Tip? Because the triangle fuzzy cotton mask doesn’t scream “Snowman” to me. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/10 "2017-10-23T16:08:33Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > From what I have read, they were altering the film as they edited (because they didn’t have time to film all the script) and Kilmer wasn’t available to do new VO’s. That doesn’t seem too good. Still, I thought the trailer, while weird, looked kind of interesting. At first I thought it was a cheesy slasher film or something but then I saw the cast and I figured there must be more to it. I think it might be worth a rental. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/11 "2017-10-23T16:37:29Z")
[[del]threadshit mode[/del] ] I’ve mostly only seen the subway ads and perhaps some book covers from a few years ago (unsure). _Is_ this story a member of that genre of tales in which there is a particularly brilliant evil mastermind supervillain criminal who outwits the police while racking up an ever-increasing body count, and for a protracted portion of the narrative is running circles around the main character who is attempting to solve the case? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/12 "2017-10-23T16:52:34Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > From what I have read, they were altering the film as they edited (because they didn’t have time to film all the script) and Kilmer wasn’t available to do new VO’s. He also had some cancer treatment in the last year or two. Maybe his speaking wasn’t intelligible at the time of filming. From a [Reddit thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/67qzrx/hello_reddit_i_am_actor_and_artist_val_kilmer_i/): > [@Val Kilmer](#): > > …I did have a healing of cancer, but my tongue is still swollen altho healing all the time. Because I don’t sound my normal self yet people think I may still be under the weather. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/13 "2017-10-23T18:13:21Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Oh god it was horrible! So so bad! I found it so confusing, and not in a dense convoluted story type way, but rather “half this movie feels like it’s on the editing room floor.” Which makes sense since I read afterwards that the director said he wasn’t able to film 15% of the screenplay! > > Characters were there for no reason (what was the point of JK Simmons again?) and their motivations for so many things made absolutely no sense, including the killer. > > The Val Kilmer thing was just fucking _weird_! I feel like I’ve seen better dubbing in 1970s kung fu movies. JK Simmons’ character was there as backstory for Det. Bratt (Her father knew/worked for him) and the red herring (the weird rape-y kinda storyline). > [@AHunter3](#): > > [[del]threadshit mode[/del] ] > > I’ve mostly only seen the subway ads and perhaps some book covers from a few years ago (unsure). _Is_ this story a member of that genre of tales in which there is a particularly brilliant evil mastermind supervillain criminal who outwits the police while racking up an ever-increasing body count, and for a protracted portion of the narrative is running circles around the main character who is attempting to solve the case? Not really. The killer wasn’t brilliant and there wasn’t much of a rising body count. He didn’t run circles around anyone as much as he lazily sent a letter or two. You wouldn’t be at fault for assuming everything you did, but the movie dropped the ball on kinda-sorta trying to be that…but not. Although the book wasn’t too much that way either. Closer to what you described, but not by a whole lot. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/14 "2017-10-23T18:59:18Z")
I saw it last night, the first of 3 movies I saw yesterday, and though I didn’t love it, I liked it just fine. That sounds like damning with faint praise but I don’t mean it that way. Maybe it could have been brilliant, and it wasn’t, but no movie with that high level of cast, that great director, and that SCENERY (oh my god, every movie needs to be set in Norway) is a waste of my time. I’d see it again. I’d read the book. I’d watch any sequels they care to make. I didn’t know much about it going in. I’d avoided trailers after the first one I saw and I avoided any reviews or anything written about the film. I have to admit hadn’t heard of the book, let alone knowing it was a detective series. I had no trouble following the story, so I’m confused why people are so confused. I didn’t guess who the killer was because I don’t go looking for that kind of thing, and because EVERYBODY seemed like a suspect. Maybe the movie didn’t live up to its top-level pedigree, but I don’t think it deserves the savage reception it’s gotten. Except for the dubbing of Val Kilmer. That was terrible, worse than an old Italian film. There are experts who devote their careers to foley and ADR, but something went horribly wrong here. What the hell happened? Poor Val Kilmer. It’s not his fault. ---
**Author:** ![Lorne\_Armstrong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@Lorne\_Armstrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorne_Armstrong)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/15 "2017-10-24T09:42:40Z")
It was terrible. Val Kilmer looks like Richard Nixon with lips and a wig. The female detective was incredibly beautiful, though. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/16 "2017-10-24T16:13:53Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > …I’d watch any sequels they care to make… Given the reviews and box office take, I wouldn’t hold my breath. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/17 "2017-10-24T17:51:26Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Given the reviews and box office take, I wouldn’t hold my breath. Yeah, me either. Which is a shame because I do like the books and the character. Although the sequel they teased at the end of the movie wasn’t one of the better books anyway. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snowman-no-spoilers-in-op/799428/18 "2017-10-24T19:50:29Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Not really. The killer wasn’t brilliant and there wasn’t much of a rising body count. He didn’t run circles around anyone as much as he lazily sent a letter or two. You wouldn’t be at fault for assuming everything you did, but the movie dropped the ball on kinda-sorta trying to be that…but not. Heh. Reminds me of the one COLUMBO episode where for once he doesn’t just note the key clue to foil a murder; he notes one after another after another after another after another after another after another. “I must say I found you disappointing. I mean, your incompetence. You left enough clues to sink a ship … and for a man of your intelligence, sir, you got caught in a lot of stupid lies.” [beat] “A _lot_ of them.”