"...directed by Sharim Sharif
and adapted by the director from her own 2004 novel. It features laborious
acting and directing, and a screenplay whose revelations are uninteresting,
even were they not guessable long in advance.
Whatever potential subtlety
and complexity we are promised does not materialise — only hammy
airport-bestseller histrionics, and the whole movie sometimes seems submerged
in a kind of cold-tea sepia look, appropriate to its historical background. "
The Guardian
"...an old-fashioned, espionage-tinged romance that might be more at home on ITV3 than the big screen.
Empireonline
"...
Sarif’s very mawkish and
novelettish melodrama...For all its invocations of Russian history, this is a
glorified telenovela at heart.
The Independant
"....
It’s told in two distinct
timelines, both of which mirror one another in a rather clunky manner. One is a
rather shallow portrait of the ‘50s Cold War era – marred by dodgy CGI snow,
obvious green-screen and unconvincing sets - while the ‘90s segment plays out
at-best like a mediocre late afternoon TV drama.
The National
"....It’s all so brightly lit, and presented in an
amateur way – with stilted dialogue, and such clumsy staging. The poor
supporting cast do not help matters, turning would could be a great film, into
a pastiche of an 80s soap opera – and let’s face it, nobody wants that
Heyuguy
"...
And yet, and yet. It just
doesn’t work. Dance is typically great and so is Ferguson, but they’re
surrounded by cringe-worthy performances.
Thetimes.uk
"...
And clocking in
at a lean 93 minutes, there’s simply not enough time for ‘Despite the Falling
Snow’ to become the poignant love story it wants to be.
Time Out
"...As much of a misfire as Criminal is, it’s
preferable to Despite the Falling Snow (*), a dreary, incompetently
plotted and flatly directed
Scotsman
