Frozen River (2008)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Dreadfully Boring

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Melissa Leo first came to my attention when I saw "The Fighter". She won an Academy Award for her role as the hardened mother, the type who makes you feel as if you're walking on eggshells (she let slip a curse word during her acceptance speech).Two years earlier Leo had played a lead role in "Frozen River". She plays Ray, a woman working a minimum wage job and living in a double-wide mobile home. When her husband disappears with the family's money, Ray joins up with Lila (Misty Upham), a Mohawk woman, and they start transporting illegal immigrants across the US-Canada border.Almost every scene in this movie tenses the viewer up. Whether it's the claustrophobic settings or the risks of something happening during the transports, the movie pulls no punches in its focus on the marginalized sectors of society. The snow and ice emphasize the desperation that drives these women to start breaking the law. I recommend it, as I do every movie in which I've seen Melissa Leo. Too bad about Misty Upham's untimely death in 2014.

Looking back on 'Frozen River', you can clearly see writer-director, Courtney Hunt has planned and executed it with her own clear, well thought-out intentions. Not only to show a tale of a woman in danger, but to provide a well crafted insight into an American life that many may not be aware of. From life in a Native American reservation to the smuggling of immigrants, it also explores some unexpected themes too. However I found the visuals and atmosphere very very depressing, notably a shot showing popcorn being served for dinner in a grim caravan. Although this is intended, it doesn't make for the greatest cinematic experience. I'd compare the film to the Ken Loach film 'Kes' in its tone and everyman/woman characters, although 'Frozen River' is slightly more uplifting.

Frozen River caused quite the stir when it was realised four years back. After lots of festival attention, it earned two Academy Awards nominations. The first was for writer-director Courtney Hunt's original screenplay, and the second was a best actress nod for Melissa Leo. Finally catching up with this film, as the first in my "SHITTY Christmas!" series, I'm firstly left bemused as to why the Academy were so impressed with the clunky script, and secondly, angry that Leo's staggering performance didn't get the gong it deserved.Set on the snowbound American side of the New York/Quebec border, Leo plays the fatigued shop assistant Ray, with a ballsy, pugnacious streak. That ruthless attitude proves useful when her gambling addict husband takes off with the money the pair had been saving for a new static caravan home. Leaving crumbs for her and their two kids the week before Christmas, Ray must find a steadfast way to quash the family debt, settle the final payment on the new house, and have enough money to plant gifts underneath the tree.But luck strikes in the strangest of places. Whilst she's out wielding a gun and hunting for her husband, Ray bumps into the stoical Lila (Misty Upham), a young woman from a neighbouring Mohawk reservation. She's desperate for money too, needing enough to start up a clean life with her baby boy son, currently being sheltered by her mother-in-law (similarly to Ray, her husband bailed too). Lila's figured out how to make extra cash by ferrying illegal immigrants across the border via the connected frozen river – but she needs a 'trustworthy-looking' white woman to carry out the scheme.From the offset, it's clear that Ray & Lila's relationship is strictly professional. They argue, point guns, and exchange flippant racial abuse at each other. But they have one thing in common, a desperation to do what's right for their respective families, and they're willing to break the law, risk prison and even death to see that happen.An alleged 14 years in the making, director-writer Courtney Hunt's debut feature is perhaps a little belaboured. What could have been a very tight, singular character study, ends up being diluted and drowned by the ancillary characters and the extraneous plot depths they bring. Misty Upham seems to be on the brink of solid, stoney-faced characterisation but, like the rest of the cast, she is also upstaged by Leo. It's a huge problem in this little, $1million budget movie. Whenever Melissa Leo isn't in the frame, Frozen River is too dour to be entertaining, and everything ends up grinding to a halt.Fortunately enough, Hunt is aware that Leo really is the star of the movie, giving her the respect, creative license and screen time she deserves to pull off one astonishing breakthrough performance. In any other actor's hands, it would have been a melodramatic take on a woman on the brink of depression and despair. But, in something closely resembling Debra Granik's superior movie Winter's Bone, Leo turns Frozen River into an affecting, frosty depiction of female empowerment.Read more reviews here: www.366movies.com

"Frozen River" is an example of what great indie film making is all about.Instead of special effects and outrageous plot twists, we are shown real people caught up in some of the significant issues of life.First let me say that the acting by Melissa Leo, and especially Misty Upham is superb. Both characters grow in stature as the film progresses; what seem to be clichés at the start become powerful archetypes. The direction and cinematography cannot be faulted anywhere. Just well done all the way, without drawing special attention to itself. They let the story take preeminence. "Frozen River" will challenge your way of seeing cultures, borders, and family. It is the type of movie that stays with you. Don't miss it.