Snow Cake

As hangdog and hammy as its leading man, this extra-thick slice of Canadian tragedy porn subsists on contrivances from other movies. Sigourney Weaver throws her hat into the Rain Man ring as an autistic mom who teaches an ex-con (Rickman) to live again after he kills her daughter in an Adaptation-style car wreck. A voluptuous neighbor (Moss) inexplicably pursues the mopemeister, while Broken Social Scene is squandered on a Muzaky score. Only the bleak north-country locale manages not to embarrass itself. (Opens Fri; Cinema Village.) — Mark Holcomb