Frozen River

Frozen River

Directed by: Courtney Hunt

Starring: Melissa Leo

Genre: Drama/Independent

Run Time: 97 min.

Release Date: January 2008

On The Web: Official Site

Teaser: Movie Trailer

Reviewed by Byron Merritt

Who’d of thought that a truly independent film like this (budget of only $1 million) could reach as high as it has? Certainly not me. And I consider myself a pretty good friend of indie movies.

The highest praise one can give FROZEN RIVER is definitely the performance of its main character, Melissa Leo (THE THREE BURIAL OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA) who plays Ray Eddy, wife to a gambling-a-holic, good-for-nothing husband who runs off with the family money, leaving Ray alone with their two boys, fending for themselves and on the brink of starvation. Trying to find her husband, Ray runs across his abandoned vehicle in a parking lot, only to watch it driven off by a Native American woman named Lila Littlewolf (MISTY UPHAM). Following her, Ray falls into an unusual scam that makes her travel across a frozen section of river that bisects an Indian reservation, one section on the U.S. border and the other in Canada. Once on the other side, illegal immigrants are placed in the trunk of her car and snuck across the border, earning Ray some much needed cash, and pulling Lila up financially closer to getting a lost son back, too.

The pressure is evident in the choices that must be made by Ray and Lila. Ray does it to help feed her family and to garner enough cash for the down payment on a new double-wide trailer she and her two kids so desperately need. Lila does it to build up enough nerve and cash to get her child back from a Native American family that stole him from her.

An additional pressure is exerted on Ray as she battles her eldest son, T.J. (Charlie McDermott, THE VILLAGE) who’s trying to be “the man of the house” in his father’s absence. He cares for his younger brother and also reeks havoc on the home when he tries to unfreeze some water pipes with a blow torch (that nearly burns down their little trailer).

It goes without saying that Melissa Leo’s performance carries the entire film. In fact, without her, I fear this film would’ve bombed horribly (thus my average rating). She was even nominated for an Oscar for her performance (Best Actress no less!) but didn’t stand much of a chance against folks like Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie, and Meryl Streep. Still, it was nice to see her abilities recognized by such a prestigious awards ceremony. She did, however, win Best Actress at other smaller ceremonies like the Independent Spirit Awards, the Gotham Awards, and many, many, many film festival wins.

With Misty Upham’s performance, however, is where the film starts to falter. Almost cardboard-ish in character, Upham’s Lila seems to be going through the motions beside the much more talented Leo. Even when she barges in to take back her baby from the family that nabbed him, she has a flat affect with little emotional weight (if any). The other performances by the rest of the cast were also equally forgettable.

But if you’re a fan of Melissa Leo, this one might be worth checking out. The moral message is also well played, giving first time writer/director Courtney Hunt a nice feather in her cap. Let’s hope she can get some big name actors in her next film and she might have a great success.