David Gordon Green fans have reason to celebrate. The southern auteur’s latest drama, “Snow Angels,” finally reaches Charlotte after building (then squandering) buzz at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival – it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize but lost to Christopher Zalla’s “Padre Nuestro.”

The news only gets better. “Angels” also rejuvenates the filmmaker’s creative stock, which soared so high after the softly moving features “George Washington” and “All the Real Girls” but plummeted after the director’s painfully awkward “Undertow,” which misfired on all cylinders.

“Angels” finds Green adapting a Stewart O’Nan novel about emotionally broken people dealing with a string of bad breaks. Suicidal Glenn (Sam Rockwell, phenomenal) is a recovering alcoholic trying to repair his shattered relationship with Annie (Kate Beckinsale), his ex-wife and mother of his daughter.

Annie’s not doing much better; she’s sleeping with her best friend’s husband (Nicky Katt), yet still playfully flirts with Arthur (Michael Angarano), a teenage --co-worker whom she used to babysit.

A lingering subplot involves Arthur’s crush on Annie and his attraction to fellow student Lila (Olivia Thirlby, “Juno”). We wait for the story lines to intersect, intrigued by the promise of violence Green hints at in his opening scene. Finally, something terrible happens that binds the story’s key players.

Green is growing as a storyteller. He doesn’t hurry “Angels” to its tantalizing gut-punch of a twist, leisurely establishing his pieces around a disheveled game board.
He’s also showing technical improvement, experimenting with depth-of-focus shots and calculated zooms during dangerously intimate flirtations. “Angels” skips through snapshots of small-town failures that have resulted in giant disappointments for these characters.

Green finds actors who are skilled at playing damaged goods. Griffin Dunne is very good as Arthur’s fly-by-night father. Comedian Amy Sedaris conveys credible pain as Katt’s betrayed wife. Beckinsale, a born beauty, rises to the challenge of the difficult material and delivers her most emotional performance. The ensemble is led by Rockwell, who funnels his nervous energy into the hollow shell that is his character, overcompensating for the discomfort Glenn feels in his own skin. Rockwell’s portrayal of a dangerous, devastated loser is fantastic.

“Angels” might be Green’s best film. His stories are emotional traces that affect you while you’re watching but gradually drift from memory. I remembering enjoying his airy, introspective romance “All the Real Girls,” but have a hard time recalling the film’s details.
Not so with “Angels.” The tragedies of this drama won’t leave me anytime soon.