Mother is gone.

What shall I do?

Nothing, my dear.

You’re not to stew.

Close up your heart.

No love you gave.

So tears right now

your guilt won’t save.

You’re just a teen

out to have fun.

Who cares if Mom

went on the run?

Your Dad remains,

though such a bore.

He’s nice to you --

lets you do more.

It’s sex you want

from boy next door

or from a guy

who knows much more.

Where has Mom gone?

Dreams haunt you now.

Does Dad know where

or why or how?

Too bad this tale

which should be told

seems much too slow

and very cold.

Set in the 1980s, White Bird in a Blizzard fails to live up to its billing as a thriller. It’s definitely a mystery -- but the suspense needed for “thriller” status seems woefully missing. The film focuses on the seemingly unconcerned reactions of Kat (Shailene Woodley), an attractive teenage girl, after her beautiful mother Eve (Eva Green) disappears one day and doesn’t return. Prior to this disappearance, problems in the mother/daughter relationship intensified as a result of the mom’s jealousy toward her daughter’s budding sexuality. But even before that situation became toxic, it’s clear Eve was on the road to a breakdown. She hated her dull role as a housewife as well as her even duller husband (Christopher Meloni/Man of Steel).

So did Eve just walk away from her family -- or is foul play the answer to her absence? Unfortunately, it’s hard to care because the film deals mostly with Kat’s coming-of-age journey instead of Detective Scieziesciez’s (Thomas Jane/The Mist) investigation into her mother’s disappearance. Plus, except for a couple of dazzling snowy dream sequences and one or two scenes where Eva Green (Dark Shadows) shows off her considerable acting chops, the movie looks as flat as its f-word-filled dialogue sounds.   

It seems important to report that talented Shailene Woodley (The Spectacular Now), who usually excels in more sympathetic roles, actually bares her breasts here for the first time on screen. (That might be of interest -- or perhaps off-putting -- to some of her many fans.)

And to close on a positive note, I admit the movie’s shocking twist ending is almost worth waiting for.   

(Released by Magnolia Pictures and rated “R” for sexual content/nudity, language and some drug use.)

For more information about White Bird in a Blizzard, go to the IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes web site.