Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

one of my absolute favorites!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This New Zealand product slowly grabs you. Alice(Melanie Lynskey...Rose on Two and a Half Men)is a young women who craves excitement. She admires most all things American; you know...threat of danger, drugs, sex and in her mind anything resembling a cheap thrill. Her bedroom walls are covered with photos of James Dean and Elvis. She also has a fetish for snakeskin boots. Her ideal weekend is going with platonic friend Craig(Dean O'Gorman), who wants to be called Johnny because it is sexier, hitting the highway and picking up strangers. With each stranger there is the chance of adventure. Johnny being in love with Alice would go to the ends of the earth for her. What Alice wants...Alice usually gets. When these two adventurers pick up an American hitchhiker Seth(Boyd Kestner), the road trip becomes a thrill ride. Seth appears to be a rough cowboy packing a gun and wearing snakeskin boots; and he is trying to hide the fact he is running from drug dealers, who he robbed...he has their product and their money. This being known, small town Alice and Johnny become characters in the adventure of their lives. Lynskey has what it takes to carry the movie. She is vibrant and adaptable. Others in the cast: Oliver Driver, Jode Rimmer, Jacob Tomuri and Paul Glover.

Gillian Ashurst's films are generally characterised by fetishistic use of kitchy character images from sci-fi, the wild west and 1950s pin-ups. It's anchoring, but can come across as objectifying and seems to contribute to a lack of plot.Snakeskin does not entirely diverge from the kitchy character theme but definitely has a tight plot with good momentum. The main characters are believably drawn, although they're not particularly likeable.The acting in Snakeskin varies. Oliver Driver is brilliant in a challenging role as a skinhead. Melanie Lynskey tends to overact somewhat, and Dean O'Gorman at his best, although this is not saying much. The "comic relief" characters, the local ice-cream van drug vendors, are both annoying and extraneous to the plot.There are some very well executed sequences and ideas, for example the grief caused to a family by a fatal car crash, the CGI section when one of the characters is tripping on LSD and a tender moment shared between a skinhead and women's underwear. These snipets in themselves give an idea as to the diverse tone of this film.Snakeskin is an interesting development for Ashurst as a filmmaker, and worth a watch, although more in the sense of 'fun' than 'challenging'.

New Zealand movies have a knack for being slightly 'quirky' and this film is no exception. The characters are somewhat enigmatic, the scenes are at times surreal, and the plot is suitably 'dark'. Unfortunately, "Snakeskin" is unable to live up to its premise, and the viewing experience is somewhat unfulfilling. However, this is not to say that the film is without its good points: Firstly, the cinematography is absolutely breathtaking and showcases the beauty of Southern New Zealand; secondly, the camera work is extremely effective (especially in the first half) thus adding an element of intrigue; and thirdly, the acting is slick and well-polished (in particular Melanie Lynskey and Oliver Driver).Despite its good intentions, "Snakeskin" does not run as smoothly as it ought too. The first half of the film runs like a typical road movie, and this is reinforced by the use of humour and brisk action (car chases etc). The second half of the film takes a dramatic change however, and veers into thriller territory. The scenes become darker, more complex, and more serious. I found this shift in genres quite distracting, and it made the film increasingly difficult to comprehend. Obviously, the snake motif plays a central part in the film, but this is undermined by the 'twilight zone' treatment it receives in the latter stages. Ultimately, I think the film would have been more effective if it stuck to a simpler story-making formula.

Kiwis have this really odd approach to our films. We automatically assume that if a film has come from the States, and if it's showing in Hoyts, then it's better than anything ever made in New Zealand, let alone the smelly ol' Mainland.As Snakeskin aptly shows, this is damn wrong, and it's fitting that it uses the Kiwi appropriation (obsession) with the American Dream as its central theme. In fact, the characters know more about Elvis and Marrilyn ("The patron saints of America guiding us on our journey") than about the small plastic Tiki they have in their car.It's a very clever, very well directed, *excellent* film. With a kicking soundtrack. This is very important.