SYNOPSIS: Michael Devlin is an 11-year-old boy living a typical life in Brooklyn, until he witnesses the attack on a store owner by a band of thugs bent on terrorizing the neighbors.  Living alone with his mom, Michael's only escape lies in his comic books and baseball...and in an unlikely friendship with a Rabbi.  He introduces Michael to the remarkable world of the golem, a monstrous man made of clay who helps those who have been wronged.  When Michael learns that the thugs have targeted him, he reaches into the past for an astonishing adventure - and a conflict that will forever change a neighborhood.

EDITORIAL REVIEW:  Set in a time in New York when calling an African American a "colored", or a Jewish person a "kike" was as overused as a bad Brooklyn accent, Snow in August stars the cute and cuddly Peter Tambakis as Mike Devlin, a fatherless 11-year-old boy who witnesses a brutal hate-crime against Mr.G, the local Jew candy store owner.  When the anti-Semite who lead the attack threatens Mike with a beating of his own if he tells, Mike becomes filled with guilt - torn between doing what is right and telling the "Abbott and Costello" police detectives investigating the crime, and peer pressure from his buddies about not being a Rat.  Mike and his friends, Jimmy and Sonny (Jase Blankfort, Jonathan Koensgen), are Alter Boys at the local Catholic church.  One day on his day to Mass, Mike meets Rabbi Judah Hirsch (played by talented Stephen Rea).  An improbable friendship ensues where Mike teaches the Rabbi English and better grammar (and the finer points of baseball and the "bums" in the Brooklyn Dodgers), and the Rabbi teaches Mike some Yiddish.  Through this friendship, Mike also learns a series of valuable life lessons from the wise Rabbi.  But the closer Mike gets to the Rabbi, the further apart he gets from his racist friends, which causes great stress in his young life.  Regardless of Mike's new found friendship with the Rabbi, he remains silent about the attack on Mr.G - thanks mostly to a series of constant reminders that include some pants-pissing violence.  One day, the Rabbi tells Mike a story that he takes a little too seriously, but will it help or only make things worse?

Made as a MoW (industry slang for Movie of the Week - a low budget made-for-tv movie) back in 2001, Snow in August is a little melodramatic at times, and the whole anti-Semite thing is waaaaaay overused (we get it, they're all racists but Mike).  Of course this is a family movie with a little bit of childish fantasy thrown in, so some of the sappy feel-good stuff is to be expected.  Even with the questionable story telling and script that kind of takes you all over the place, you'll want to keep watching it just to see Peter Tambakis.  His performance is quite good and realistic and really the only reason why you should get this movie into your collection.  He can certainly carry the movie as the lead actor all by himself and pull it off flawlessly, almost making this a good movie.

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STARRING: Peter Tambakis, Lolita Davidovich, Stephen Rea, Jase Blankfort, Jonathan Koensgen, Adam MacDonald.
AVAILABILITY: In stock! Ships within one business day.
LENGTH: 104 minutes.
LANGUAGE: English, with OPTIONAL ENGLISH and SPANISH SUBTITLES.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 1.33:1 (4:3 Full screen); 2.0 Stereo; 1 disc; Chapter selection; Photo gallery; Filmographies; Previews; Uncut.
VIEWER DISCRETION: Coarse language, violence.
PICTURE QUALITY: Excellent picture quality. (what's this mean?)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada / USA (2001).
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DATE ADDED TO OUR LIBRARY:  October 17, 2008.
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