Frozen River Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
Takes place in the days before Christmas near a little-known border crossing on the Mohawk reservation between New York State and Quebec. Here, the lure of fast money from smuggling presents a daily challenge to single moms who would otherwise be earning minimum wage. Two women - one white, one Mohawk, both single mothers faced with desperate circumstances - are drawn into the world of border smuggling across the frozen water of the St. Lawrence River. Ray and Lila... and the New York State Trooper who ultimately brings the two to justice.
| Melissa Leo | Ray Eddy |
| Misty Upham | Lila |
| Michael O'Keefe | Trooper Finnerty |
| Mark Boone Junior | Jacques Bruno |
| Charlie McDermott | T.J. |
| James Reilly | Ricky |
| Dylan Carusona | Jimmy |
| Jay Klaitz | Guy Versailles |
| Michael Sky | Billy Three Rivers |
| John Canoe | Bernie Littlewolf |
| Nancy Wu | Chen Li - Chinese Girl |
| Pun Bandhu | Chinese Man #1 |
| Rajesh Bose | Pakistani Father |
| Joey Chanlin | Chinese Trafficker |
| Thahnhahténhtha Gilbert | Little Jake |
| Courtney Hunt |
7.40 out of 10 (2510 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Leo was the best sign of "Frozen River"
posted on 14 Aug 2009The freeze frames of the melancholy but gripping film "Frozen River" reminds us of this country's current economic recession; which ironically enough reinforces the sad fact that more assets are frozen these days. Academy Award Best Actress nominee Melissa Leo does deliver a robust performance as Ray Eddy, a northern New York mother of two boys living a poverty life in a beat-up trailer. Ray's husband has run off with her money, she needs to desperately obtain money for a new trailer, and is challenged by her adolescent son to keep things afloat. So let's just say that Ray desperately needs a ray of sunshine in her life or a winning lottery prize would definitely ease the pain also. Ray does not win no lotto but she does encounter Lila (Misty Upham), a young Mohawk Indian woman who offers her an opportunity to drive & smuggle illegal immigrants from the Quebec-New York border in exchange for nice cashola payoff. Ray accepts and before you know it Fast Mrs. Eddy is driven into the world of Smuggler's Blues. Lila also has motherly issues of her own due to the fact that her infant son had been stolen from her. The premier focus of the film is the unexpected bonding between Ray and Lila and their financial struggles in order to support their children; and that is just the tip of the iceberg on the gloomy women of "Frozen River". Writer-Director Courtney Hunt does heat up the tension of "Frozen River" with heartbreaking scenes that will deliver a river of tears through your sympathetic face. Ms. Hunt was recently nominated by the Academy for a Best Original Screenplay for her scribe in the film, so consequently she will be hunted down by many studio bosses for her film-making efforts. Do I think the film deserved a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination? No. Do I think that the film does warrant an authentic commendation for its narrative storytelling? Yes. Is this film review over? Lucky for you, yes. Nonetheless, I do recommend that you cinematically dive into the "Frozen River". **** Good
the dire straits of border-town NY state - an anti Lifetime movie for the most part
posted on 08 Aug 2009The character of Ray Eddy, performed by Melissa Leo, is not one to be trampled over since, frankly, she's had her share of it already. Her husband left her and her two kids, she makes pittance at a $1 store, and an accident at home with a blowtorch makes it not just a dream but a must that they move out into a double-wide trailer. Some may think that this is just a white-trash story about this character, and her struggles trying to fulfill this possibility of a new trailer by smuggling immigrants over the border from Canada, isn't worth watching. But what makes it an important, if imperfect, film is that it reveals its characters without a trace of false sentimentality or truth. These characters are what they are, and nothing will change that, and seeing this window into these characters lives is one that Hollywood would usually sugarcoat over. For all their possible moments of convention, this and the Wrestler capture to a great extent people who keep fighting at the end of an inexorable everyday-rope.In Frozen River we get this story of smuggling immigrants as a major plot, but this is only crucial to see in the background. Whatever points filmmaker Courtney Hunt (considering it's a debut with no other present-on-IMDb film experience is remarkable) wants to make about the dire straits of the immigrants crossing or the Indians on the reservation with their own council and way of life set apart from the white people of the area, should be noted. Yet it's not their story so much as it is just simply about two women, Ray Eddy and Lila Littlewolf. Their stories are somewhat similar- both have kids that they cant properly take care of, both have money problems, both have deadbeat ex's- and the actresses present their characters in an upfront, naturalistic manner. And since Hunt can direct these actresses as well as some of the other supporting actors (if not all) it heightens their drama.While Hunt could be criticized for amping up the drama in the last third into something that is kind of predictable, considering the border patrol and their knowledge of Ray's vehicle and who Lila is, the results still are compelling, if not quite a knockout as a climax. The music, too, dictates very little of how the characters or us should feel watching the scenes. It's more like the score just tells us more about what the weather is like, the cold and desolate and run-down areas of this NY and Canadian border, and that also works very well towards the film. It's like the director took notes from all of these wishy-washy and weepy melodramas from Lifetime and knew what would make it actually work for an audience that aren't simply women into weepy melodramas. If anything, Frozen River is the kind of "story for women" that could be considered too *good* for the likes of their work.This is not to say I found the movie perfect or entirely one of the year's best. There are some flaws in some of the performances (the actor who plays Leo's son is the only one who grates on one as being one-note), and the last third is a little too "safe" dramatically, even if it works in some logical way with the bittersweet quality of the picture (more on bitter). But it's still a must-see because of the performances, for the way with which Hunt presents this environment that most of us barely even know exists unless from that area of upstate NY, and even just for an immigration drama that takes place with Canada as opposed to Mexico, which would seem the more obvious pick.
Popcorn and Tang? … Frozen River
posted on 04 Aug 2009The story contains so much more than just a tale of two women playing the role of coyotes to bring illegals into the United States via Mohawk territory from Canada. Both Leo's Ray Eddy and Misty Upham's Lila Littlewolf are mothers on a mission for survival; both protecting their children above their own safety and comfort. When a smuggling run goes wrong towards the end, you not only see their true worth, but also the humanity they both try so hard to hide behind a steely façade. Finding it necessary to act strong and show no weakness, these women prove that selflessness still exists despite first looks.Credit Hunt for a beautifully written tale of poverty and against-all-odds sentiments. We are thrust directly into the action, watching Leo's tear-streaked face as she realizes what has happened. It takes a few minutes more for the audience to comprehend what has transpired, piecing together conversations between her and eldest son T.J. as well as with Mr. Versailles as he takes her new double wide home away in lieu of payment. Leo's Ray is a woman who has reached her breaking point. She sees the ever-growing ambivalence and frustration in her older son, knowing he can help make money, yet constantly shot down as he must finish school; the youthful exuberance in young son Ricky as the dream of a real home may be taken away, but all he can see is that Santa will make it happen; and the fact that her husband is all but done with their family, seeing their money as a way to extend his gambling habit, not as a future within reach.While Leo has been lauded over the most, with good reason as she is fantastic, (hopefully this may be her Love Liza, the film that finally gave Oscar-regular Philip Seymour Hoffman his first starring role), but I can't stop thinking about Upham's performance. Her Lila is just as integral, if not more to the story at hand. At first appearance she is a disgruntled woman, angry with her people, angry with God, angry with herself. She sees no problem taking an abandoned car from the side of the road and has no moral qualms about bringing illegal immigrants across the border. To her there is no border. The Mohawk territory on either side of the titular frozen river belongs to no nation. Her only real threat in getting caught is to have her money taken away. Unless discovered on American soil, she is technically breaking no laws. A common criminal, drawing Leo into her web so that she has a white woman to cross the US/reservation border, Upham's Lila is an enigma. Only when we discover the reason behind her smuggling do we understand how similar these two women are. The one big difference between them becomes her belief and unflappable trust in God. She sees miracles and destiny whereas Leo sees coincidence and necessity. The two viewpoints merge together at the end, bonding the two forever—two mothers who will stop at nothing for the children they'd rather lose for short periods of time then see them suffer for the long term.Besides some wonderfully stark and bleak shots, the film's real strength lies in the acting. There are some gorgeous frames of the snow on the river, winter in the dark, and the solitude and quiet of their patch of New York State bordering Quebec. Little touches like that of the bike-powered merry-go-round at the Eddy house brings a sense of downtrodden aesthetic. We see the day-to-day grind on the reservation and in the town—at the Bingo hall, the Yankee Dollar, the trailer parks, etc. Nothing makes that world more authentic then those inhabiting it, though. I have to believe most extras were amateurs recruited to be a part of the film. They stay in the background and add a layer to the tale that would be missing if cast by a Hollywood studio with "pretty" people.A few familiar faces are included as well with Michael O'Keefe's small role as the State Trooper manning the border and Mark Boone Junior as a menacing French-Canadian fence in the world of human trafficking. It's Junior's Jacques Bruno that shows the evil and danger in what they are doing. It's not all about people trying to do the right thing, but also about money. Besides these two, Charlie McDermott, as T.J., deserves mention too. He shines as the older-than-his-years son, willing to take the mantle of man of the house even if his mother feels he is not yet ready. The aggression and anger brewing inside of him becomes a mask for the scared boy he is, realizing how his father had failed them and how hard it is for his mother. He wants to help and not being able to just makes the frustration mount. It's a definite departure from his juvenile delinquent role in Sex Drive, one that didn't ask for much.The issue of a duffel bag brought over by a couple of Pakistani illegals will soon take over the film and become the most memorable sequence, however, Frozen River isn't to be remembered by one instance. Yes, that coyote run becomes the defining moment for our two leads, but the rest of the story is so well told that it would have fallen flat as a contrivance if not. What happens as a result of that bag only works in the context of what has come before it. Hunt's screenplay earns that moment and runs with it until the end. Not every happy ending is necessarily without loss, but hiccups at the start, which allow for a renewal later on, can't be passed off as defeat. It's just delayed success, a bright future ahead to hold on to and alleviate the pain of the present.
Thankfully not another bleak and depressing movie.
posted on 27 Jul 2009I have to give this movie credit. The way it started, I thought it would be another bleak and depressing movie about a white trash family meeting misfortune after misfortune but no, every time I braced myself for the worst, something surprising - but not gratuitous - happens, and the movie even concludes on such a note, which made me happy, actually, simply because it wasn't rote.Frozen River is about a trailer park mom whose husband has run off to gamble their savings away, leaving her with no money to take care of her kids as well as pay off the remainder of their new porta-house. Desperate, she forms an uneasy alliance with a Mohawk woman and they turn to smuggling illegal immigrants from Canada into the US. So you can easily see how this movie could go from gloom to doom but I'm really glad it doesn't.The previously underrated Melissa Leo finally turns in an undeniably stellar performance as the mom. Portraying gritty and desperate enough to do anything for her kids, Leo is always believable and she capably holds the movie together and keeps it gripping, almost to a fault in fact, as the other actors pale by comparison. Relative newcomer Misty Upham as the Mohawk woman, especially, comes across as just having graduated from acting school. She tries, and you can see her earnestness, but Leo's tour de force performance just blows her and everyone else away.
A showcase for Melissa Leo's amazing performance
posted on 17 Jul 2009This film is about a single mother struggling to pay for food to feed her two children. She discovers a quick way to make money by accident, and her life is changed forever.All eyes are on Melissa Leo's amazing performance in "Frozen River". I am still surprised that I did not know of Melissa Leo despite her having 16 films out in the past two years. Her performance as a desperate mother struggling to make ends meet is very touching. Her role is emotionally demanding, as she has to cry or look distressed half the time in the film. Sometimes, roles like this can become too overbearing, and make the character too neurotic or even hysterical. However, Melissa Leo plays it to almost perfection, portraying her stress and desperation in a convincing manner.As for the plot, it is to slow and has a few obvious plot holes. I find "Frozen River" an average film on the whole, but with an amazing performance lead actress.
Great Drama
posted on 11 Jul 2009Frozen River (2008)**** (out of 4)Melissa Loe plays the mother of two who has her husband leave her days before Christmas with the money they had been saving for a new double-wide trailer. Wanting to give her kids a new place to live she starts hauling illegal immigrants across a frozen river. This here is a rather unique film that takes a look at single mothers doing what they must in order to survive. I've read a few reviews that said the director pounds the message of the film over the viewers head or that the film tries too hard to show that being poor sucks but I have to disagree in some ways. Yes, the film does paint an ugly picture but this is why I enjoyed it so much. I think most movies would have had us caring 100% about our lead woman but that's not the case here. This is a rather ugly and dirty movie that doesn't paint any good pictures and for that reason alone this thing has my respect. I must be honest and say I'm happy that I hated Loe's character so much yet at the same time I wanted to see her get her wish of giving her children a new place to live. Director Hunt, who also wrote the screenplay, never pulls any punches nor does she try to make us feel sympathy for the lead woman. Yes, I think we're suppose to feel sorry for her but I respect the fact that she's not a very likable character from start to finish. I must admit that there were several moments where I wanted to hit her upside the head just because of her dumbness and the stupid things she said and did to her older son. I'm not sure how many people are going to feel this way but her character isn't one I liked at the start of the movie and my feelings didn't change by the end. That's something brave to do with a film that also wants you see that same character succeed in what she's doing. Misty Upham plays another single mother who gets involved with the smuggling and seeing these two women working together, even though they don't really care for one another, makes this a very interesting character study on so many levels. The two women give wonderful performances and are some of the most natural performances I've seen in a very long time. Leo perfectly fits into the role of this poor woman to the point where you can just see it in her eyes and smell it on her clothes. She doesn't hit a false note throughout the film and really hits a grand slam. Upham isn't getting much attention this Oscar-season but she too delivers a very strong performance. The film, rightfully, doesn't try to play sides on the morals of sneaking people into this country and instead just paints a rather ugly story of being poor and the links some will go to try and provide for their families. This isn't a movie too many people are going to watch but it's one of those independent films that really makes you pay attention to what hopefully leads to more films from the talented director.
Well done..
posted on 03 Jul 2009Iam not much into indie films. But I liked this one.Both the lead actresses have performed quite well in their roles. Melissa Leo is convincing in her portrayal of a struggling working class mother.It does have a few light moments. For example, some of the cop scenes are quite funny. An example of subtle humor, I guess.Scenes like these provide small but good interludes to an otherwise dark movie.It also has a bit of spirituality thrown in. The characters do good inspite of being in terrible adversity.
Independent film-making at its best
posted on 19 Jun 2009The town where Frozen River takes place is Massena, New York, a few miles from the Canadian border in the middle of a Mohawk reservation, and in the winter it's every bit as cold and grey as the film depicts. This is one of those films that depicts a slice of life that most of us aren't privy too and it seems to know its subject inside and out.Frozen River is independent film-making at its best, both vital and timely. Writer/Director Courtney Hunt shows how otherwise law abiding people can be driven to do some shady things when there are no other options. While there may still be a great divide between Natives and non-Natives, the film depicts how economic hardship has no boundaries and in fact unites us. As Lila and Ray make those dangerous trips across the border with state troopers lurking all around them, Hunt pays considerable attention to the small details of human smuggling, and the result is a constant state of dread as if anything can go awry at any time. Leo is absolutely brilliant as Ray, and Upham (raised in Seattle) is a pure revelation as Lila. Frozen River shines a light on a dark corner of our nation, one that is an unfortunate result of a useless immigration policy and a failing economy.
You can see this film, its average but don't expect much.....
posted on 07 Jun 2009Hi guys, i happened to see the movie.....I saw the ratings, read comments... i got my hopes too high... I have to give a credit to this movie for that you can't guess what's gonna happened next.. But, once you start seeing the movie, the story goes plain....and you are like, should i turn off or something is going to happen ? Because the story is not much like the way that keeps you more than involved in the movie as a Drama/thriller should be. The plot, the meaning, the deepness could have been improved much.... Acting, i would rate it above average but not the top. Though, the plot and the things shown were not coupled in a way that keep the thrill throughout, but i must say that regardless of what was shown, according to me things were as close to reality as possible... I am just saying all this, so that you don't get your hopes too high, now after reading the comment, when you'll see the movie you'll probably enjoy it more.Coming to the story, it's about a normal woman living near USA/Canada border. Her husband was an addict and he left. Her salary is just enough to keep the life running. Though she thrives to make their lifestyle better. She is willing to get a new house, whose advance has been paid. Now she finds difficult to follow her dream. Then she finds a way to do it.......it's where the Frozen River comes in..... i won't spoil the thrill..just watch n enjoy... If you say recommended or not, i think you should watch it - if not must.
Frozen Assets
posted on 03 Jun 2009Sure, I originally watched 'Frozen River' for the best actress nominee performance of Melissa Leo. I wasn't disappointed, yet. I will be when she unfortunately doesn't take home the Oscar for her outstanding portrayal. But, then again, the Academy Awards participants are generally blind to movies that make under $5 million. And shame on them. Not only will they miss one of the best performances of the year, but they will miss an excellent film, filled with tension, heart and originality. It was sad and so true, seeing the family, and Ray (Leo) suffer when one spouse takes off. I work in credit counseling and take about 20 calls/day and hear these stories. I hear it over the phone and though I don't see what they're going through, I can feel their pain. Here, we see it. Eggs for dinner (again.) One (last minute) Christmas gift. Rent-to-own about-to-be-repossessed. This is a story of a recently single mother, raising a 15 and 5-year-old in a shack, not being able to afford to spend $8 on gasoline. She gets mixed up with an American Indian human-smuggler (wonderfully played by Misty Upham) and does what she can do (though illegally) to provide a double-wide for her children. Leo's performance is so powerful, you would just want to give her the money to pay for the home if you met her. What I thought would be a one-character/actor movie turned out to be a suspenseful, touching, emotional and little indie masterpiece. The sad news is: this fictional story is so very true. If this doesn't turn around any scrooge to help those around them so unfortunate, I seriously don't know what will. Did they plan it that way? Maybe not. But this is what true acting and storytelling displays. Don't miss this excellent film.
I'm Utterly Shocked.
posted on 26 May 2009I cannot believe the positive responses to this film. For that matter I can't believe it was accepted into Sundance (for the record I am a big fan of many films that go through Sundance, so this isn't an anti-art film thing). I'm just going to assume that no one actually watched the picture, it was just accepted because of the subject matter or who the Director knows and that she was really nice so they just voted for her film but were too busy to actually watch it. Simply the film is poorly written, poorly directed, and with the exception of the lead actress poorly acted (though I can't really blame them, the writing is awful). I had to hold in the laughter at almost line that was uttered. This was poor formulaic dribble with no heart. I don't buy the whole thing that just because it's about poor people that this must be some powerful film. Unfortunately the film says nothing. You are given no reason to really care for the Protagonists or ever believe that they are in any real danger. I can't go into much detail without making this a spoiler. The point is, don't waste your money, or your time( I wish I could have my time back). This film is miserable. Even more miserable because it is trying to be a work of art. I can understand when a bad studio picture is made, they don't care about soul.
Lousy indie
posted on 22 May 2009Stereotypical indie from the sucks-to-be-poor subgenre. Hope I'm not being too glib. It does suck to be poor. I'm nowhere near wealthy myself, and I grew up with a mother under similar circumstances to the protagonist of this film (a little smarter, though; at least she realized that she was eligible for food stamps). I have more than just sympathy for her and people like her. But I am still suspicious of movies like this that lay it on so thick and seem to delight in jerking the audience's emotions around. The story follows a middle-aged woman (Melissa Leo) trying desperately to get by on her meager, part-time wages. Her husband is a thief and gambler, and has stolen the little money she has saved up to buy herself and her two sons a bigger trailer. Up the creek without a paddle, Leo meets up with a Mohawk woman from the nearby reservation (Misty Upham) who introduces her to the lucrative world of smuggling illegal immigrants across the Canadian border. First-time director and screenwriter Courtney Hunt seems to be following some kind of indie film-making book, because she makes sure to hit all the cliché bits. Everything is very predictable; everything that happens in the movie happens for a reason. For instance, every time a radio is on, the weather is reported, which will come back later in the story. The dots are all connected, and there's no room for character or mood building. The tone is pitched at that quiet, supposedly subtle level that so many indies are. The sequence that summarizes the movie is the one where Leo throws a duffel bag out the window of her car on the titular frozen river on a night that the radio, of course, tells us is going to be far below zero, because she's afraid that the Pakistani couple in her trunk might be terrorists. It turns out that their baby was in the bag. Horrible, right? Well, Leo's reaction is, "Well, we'll just have to go back and get it." She's so nonchalant about it, I was sure I must have mistakenly heard "baby". It turns out to be dead. Later, after one of the dozen or so contrivances that drive the film, the baby comes back to life in an apparent miracle. No reaction, at least from Leo. The event ends up changing Upham's outlook on life, but there's no grandiose reaction from her, either. The point is, anyway, that Hunt uses these silly, melodramatic situations which are completely unsubtle, and then she insists with her film-making that her movie is, in fact, subtle. I do have to admit that both Leo and Upham are decent actresses in the movie. I don't think either are award-worthy. It doesn't help that Leo's character often seems so profoundly stupid that it would be easy enough for a privileged audience to dismiss her with, "Well, someone like her deserves to be poor!" I like the attempt Hunt makes in exploring the subtle (and occasionally overt) racism of the white people in the film, but sometimes it feels like she wrote the script without any of it, and someone who read it suggested she add it to give it some more depth. Honestly, if she made it her focus and not just the sideline to the sucks-to-be-poor material, Frozen River would have been a more vital movie. As it is, it's rather poor, and definitely forgettable.
Thought provoking drama, Leo deserves an Oscar!!!
posted on 20 May 2009Reviewing Frozen River: I've been waiting for a very human film that isn't afraid to show the worst part of life: doing things we don't want to do but have to do anyway. Hunt's writing and directing depicts this wonderfully. Frozen River is more than just a film or a work of art, it is a fine portrayal of the tough way of life.An all together moving piece of art is only accompanied by Oscar worthy performances, which Leo seemed to nail on the nose. While she might not have the star power to the amount of her competitors (ie: Streep, Jolie, Hathaway, Winslet), she does have something else every highly promoted actor tends to lack: the simple meaning to act. Not to show ability, but to put your part in to completing a piece of art. Not every actor nowadays tends to know that they do not "own" the films they act in, and I believe many of them do not know what makes a good actress. Performance is only a part of it, but the way I see it, acting is a little like sports. You have to have a sense of modesty and good reason alongside quality to your work.Leo gives us a hope, well, she did for me at least. I believe she will not win the coveted Oscar, and will most likely lose to Hathaway or Streep, but a nomination at the very least is likely. The IndieSpirit will be her prize, at least the IF industry knows what to look for, which is something big out of barley anything. Most people overlook a good film or an actor, I just hope to gosh that members of the academy can fully understand the depth Leo dives into, and the near perfect world that Hunt invites us to join for too short of a while.An incredible film, incredible acting (not only by Leo, but Upham was equally as good!), incredible directing and cinematography... You must see this film if you truly want to experience one of the many parts of hard reality.9/10
Ah, But What Joyless Times We Live In
posted on 16 May 2009I had heard that this film was something of a runaway hit at Cannes last year. After seeing it, I can see why. 'Frozen River' is a grim little tale of a middle aged woman (Melissa Leo)who's good for nothing, substance abusing,gambler husband has left her & their two sons for points unknown (only after usurping all of the money from the bank--and this,just a week before Christmas). Rae (Leo)has to earn some money soon, or lose their trailer home. She resorts to smuggling illegal aliens (with the assistance of an Indian woman who dislikes whites)over the boarder,from Canada to the U.S., via the local Indian reservation. Toss in elements of a cynical teen aged son,and other similar elements,and you have yourself a powerful piece of drama that although somewhat bleak,manages to draw you in to the plight of people who want to fit in, but are never the less, not excepted,due to racial issues. Well worth seeking out. The film has been slapped an R-rating by the MPAA, due to some course language.
Joey Goes to the Movies; FROZEN RIVER
posted on 26 Apr 2009To be perfectly honest, I was half expecting a lifetime movie with an anomaly performance from Melissa Leo when I first heard of Frozen River. However, upon its completion I have to say that Iwas stunned to have just witnessed one of the most uniquely inspiring films to be released this year.Writer/Director Courtney Hunt's first film can feel a bit cold within the first half an hour or so. We see the typical down-on-her-luck struggling mother, Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo), dragging herself to work, struggling with money, and dealing with the sudden vanishing of her gambling-addicted husband. The character seems like that which we've seen in countless other feminist indie dramas over the past few years, played by a capable actress that somewhat elevates the film beyond a mediocre Indie dream to a single star vehicle (I'm thinking 2006's Sherrybaby, etc.). However, Melissa Leo, while being utterly fantastic and engaging, doesn't need to elevate the role anymore than what it needs to be due to the sheer strength of Hunt's screenplay, which takes time to develop.Eddy's family is struggling to make payments and attain their dream of a double-wide mobile home. She's working part-time at a local dollar store, sending the kids to school with minimal lunch money, all while trying to pay bill after bill on top of that. Her life feels cornered, and at first it seems as if her character may have been cornered by the writing as well.But as the script evolves into something more intriguing, so does Leo's performance. As Ray Eddy turns to desperate measures (I'm talking illegal smuggling of immigrants into New York State) to support her family, Leo perfectly makes the transition from weakened and struggling mother to forceful and firm mother-on-a-mission that only ever so desperately wants to provide a better life for her family's dwindling spirits and cash flow.As I said before, Leo's nuanced performance takes on Hunt's superb and relentless screenplay with what seems like ease. Her transformation from a down-and-out mother to a powerful and determined "businesswoman", for lack of better words, is truly inspiring. Leo brings the required firmness and coldness that the role requires, but also never lets go of the remorseful, nurturing, suffering, and vulnerable mother that Eddy is at her core. Leo tackles the material like a true veteran of Hollywood and impresses on all fronts.As the film progresses, we are introduced to various events and circumstances that I'm sure occur on a much larger scale in real-life human smuggling, but Hunt's screenplay handles the material with a somber compassion that inspires sympathy and empathy for both the smugglers and the smuglees (is that even a word?). The screenplay truly is a work of art here, treading the waters of many different genres (somber drama, intense thriller, etc.) but remaining a simple story about a struggling mother just trying to make her family happy at its core.The gorgeous cinematography, atmospheric score, and capable supporting performances from mostly-unknown actors (Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, etc.) round out this films list of things it has going for it.In its conclusion, Frozen River manages to do what most ambitious Indie flicks don't; conclude on a logical and conclusive note that doesn't feel like a "look at me, I'm Indie and looking for a way to be pretentiously open-ended" ending. From the swift and enthused direction of Courtney Hunt to her equally-taut screenplay that's truly one of the best of the year, Frozen River ends up being anything but frozen. It shimmers with life and the beauty that can sometimes be found in human struggle and futility, and offers a very interesting look into the mouth of desperation and love. It just goes to show you the magic that a pleasant surprise can work.
"Fargo" meets "A Christmas Carol"
posted on 20 Apr 2009Life ain't easy for Ray. She may have had it good, but now she's got it rough. Two kids. Gambling runaway husband. Working at the Yankee Dollar. On the icy brink of the unforgiving upstate New York wilderness. Living in a trailer. The best thing she can even think of is a bigger trailer. Bottles on bottles of bubble bath she may never open hold the promise of better days that may never break. That's how bad it is. Along comes Lila. In many ways, she has it even worse than Ray: living in an even tinier trailer, estranged from her family, bad eyes, out of work. But she is also a small-time player in the well-oiled trafficking industry, bringing aliens into the US from Canada. Desperate for a little extra cash to buy that bigger trailer, Ray gets involved. At first sight, writer-director Courtney Hunt's debut is as depressing as they come. But beneath rough surfaces, there is also hope. In fact, the many acts of love and kindness are all the more surprising given how hard life is on these people. Just when you think they hit rock bottom, a bona fide miracle comes their way. Says Lila: "That wasn't me. That was the hand of the creator." It may be a broken Halleluja, but it's a Halleluja all the same. - Fine performances all around. Sundance and Hamburg Film Festival winner.
Kudos to parents
posted on 06 Apr 2009Great move about what parent (mostly single mothers) will do to give their children a better life than they had. Whether it's Ray, the single mom who lives in a trailer on the U.S. Canada border and works in a dollar story, or an immigrant family trying to smuggle their child into the U.S., or a native American whose baby has been taken away from her, all share the hope for a better future for their kids.The actors in this are amazing, and bring you into a world most of us know little about including life on an Indian reservation and the business of smuggling immigrants into this country. Not only interesting, amazingly conceived and executed, but entertaining.
Grinding Poverty, Unrelenting Hardship
posted on 02 Apr 2009I really wanted to like this film and its perspective on a part of North America I had no idea existed, the Mohawk Nation of upstate New York. The frozen river as an icy Styx was eerie. The two lead characters as Charons shuttling the dead across to be reborn at the push of a button. A brutal world of troopers and snakeheads, casinos and Yankee Dollar stores. Children pulling credit cards fraud schemes to eat. Stark locations. The acting was good and the script, too. But for me, it became a soap opera. It was like House of Sand and Fog but without the charm. Toward the end, I was looking forward to the credits. Tedious.
Like Nothing You Have Seen Before (and that's not good!) Trite, Illogical And Profoundly Annoying!
posted on 09 Mar 2009I generally try to find something positive to say about a director's first film. But I can't with Frozen River.I have no doubt that writer/director Courtney Hunt is passionate about her story and characters, but this film is so ludicrous, so completely unbelievable and the characters so unbelievably stupid that I felt insulted watching it.I know there are people in the USA who are desperately poor. I'm not being cavalier, life isn't always easy and I have no problem with films that want to show that, but making a whiny, dumb film about stupid people is of no help to anyone.An overwrought Hollywood melodrama is more instructive and socially redeeming than anything in Frozen River. You want to make a serious cinematic statement? Then make a serious film Goddamn it! Not a laughable collection of idiotic moments strung together to run 97 minutes.As Frozen River begins, we meet Ray (Melissa Leo) sitting in one of her two cars crying because her gambling addict husband has run off with money she was holding as payment for the delivery of a "double wide" trailer.Right on cue, the double wide arrives and Ray has to explain that she doesn't have the money she promised. Then, trailer delivery person said something that hit me hard. He mentions that this is the second time that Ray has ordered delivery of the double wide and for the second time, she has not had the money she owes.Am I to understand that Ray is so dumb she doesn't realize that reneging on a deal means you don't get delivery of the goods? Her own teenage son notes that it was really stupid for Ray to have hidden the trailer payment in the glove compartment of her car. Apparently, this is not the first time Dad has run off with household money to gamble. I understand that Ray is among the working poor but is she really so bad off that she can only offer popcorn and Tang as supper for her kids? Isn't there any welfare or Food Stamps in New York State? How about a Salvation Army soup kitchen? What about a "Faith Based" initiative in the area? Is there really no one who can help?While I was trying to figure this out, we meet Lila (Misty Upham), a Mohawk woman who steals one of Ray's cars and drives it back to her small trailer in the woods.Ray follows her and confronts Lila by brandishing a gun. Ray threatens to call the State Police and report this car theft, but Lila laughs at this saying the State Police have no jurisdiction on Mohawk land.What? The NY State Police have no jurisdiction in dealing with a felony? Yes they do! There is such a thing as the Tribal Police, but they have only limited authority and the State Police are obliged to investigate any felony, including auto theft. Even on Mohawk land. Look it up, I did.While I was trying to process this legal idiocy, Lila, apropos of nothing, tells this strange white trash woman with a gun, whose car she has just stolen, that she is a smuggler of illegal aliens across the Canadian border and wants her help because her car has a trunk that can popped open from the driver seat. And Ray agrees to do it! We can understand why Ray helps in the smuggling, she is getting good money; less clear is why Lila does it. It has something to do with Lila's bitterness at having her child removed from her custody by the Mohawk tribe.Although the film NEVER explains why this was done, just think about it for a minute. The whole tribe decided that the baby would be better off without Lila. If we are to accept the Tribal Elders wisdom in other areas, don't we have to accept it here as well?At this point the film becomes intolerable. A few very annoying observations, why is every character in a bad mood or grumpy? Why does the trailer salesman schedule Christmas Day as the day for finalizing the deal for Ray's new double wide? Christmas Day?Here's a mystery, we are told many times that Lila has bad eyesight and can't work because of it. Her vision problems can't even be helped with glasses, "they make me car sick," Lila tells us. Her eyesight is so poor she can't write legibly or even count the money she gets from her smuggling activities; she has to ask Ray if a particular bill is a fifty or a twenty.But then later in the story, when Ray and Lila are looking for a discarded duffle-bag on the frozen river, Lila finds it by seeing faint tire tracks, on smooth black ice, at night, from a moving car. Huh?This film actually made my brain hurt. Remember, just because you have an important topic and a serious purpose, that does not mean the film you make is important and serious.Personally, I like characters that are unlikable. I mean, neither the Godfather nor Hamlet are very likable characters; but they are at least interesting characters. I have no problem with dumb characters either, Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo was a first class dolt, but he was as fascinating as he was pathetic.I did not care for any of the morons who populated Frozen River and I was reminded of the cruel truth that some people really do deserve the hard luck they have.When the only enjoyable part of a film is a scene where an infant stuffed in a duffle-bag nearly freezes to death on a frozen river, that should give you an indication of just how incredibly dumb and inept the rest of the movie is.
A great little movie
posted on 22 Aug 2009So, I watched this movie the other day and thought it was absolutely moving and inspiring. This is a different type of thriller where you see no big chases scenes, no crash-boom-bang, no typical heroes, no CIA chasing the baddie, no action-packed fast moment sort something. It's def. Not a big film with well-known cast and crew . Instead, it's a small movie with a good story, very well acted, nicely shot and surely worth watching. Furthermore, the cinematography is excellent and screenplay is really original (hope the Oscar in this category goes to Frozen River, even though I like Wall-E so much). Personally I love this kind of thrillers. A thriller that is not based on actions, I mean, you don't see the action/thrill on the screen, you FEEL it. It's in you. You feel you heart hammers faster and it gives you sort of fright, too. There where scenes I really felt the awe and the fright in me. Amazing. Other than that, during watching Frozen River reminded me a lot of times of Fargo. Like Fargo or Smoke, this is a simple story told in a great way, police is looking for the baddie(well not in Smoke), shot in winter etc. Beside that, the poverty and a family that is trying to get both end meet resembles the struggling family "In America(2002)". This is what I saw during the viewing. Shortly, Frozen River is unfortunately a rare genre we don't see it every year on the big screens. True to life, true to people, true to emotion. A great little movie.