Like "Wendy and Lucy," FROZEN RIVER is a small, quiet indie film about modern poverty. But FROZEN RIVER, I think, is much better.
FROZEN RIVER is a great example of the power of small-budget, independent cinema. It's a powerful story that a lot of people will end up overlooking simply because mainstream media will not make them aware of its existence. There is a chance, however, that an Oscar nomination could be in the cards for Melissa Leo, which could expose this excellent film to a wider audience. Leo plays a mother who is desperate to care for her two sons. She is almost penniless after her husband with a gambling problem takes off with money they'd saved to move into a double-wide trailer. Christmas Eve rolls around and she can't even afford a Hot Wheels track her younger son wants. There is nothing under the tree.
Circumstances put Leo's character in the path of another desperate single mom, a Mohawk Indian living on a reservation in upstate New York. The two women end up in the business of smuggling illegal immigrants over the U.S./Canada border by quickly driving over a frozen river. Each trip over that river was, to me, an exciting moment -- filled with danger and questions.
The relationship between these two completely different women with a common goal is quietly played, tense and fascinating. The actor playing the older son is fantastic as the newly-appointed man of the house. And Melissa Leo is great.
It's a shame that entitled and financially well-off youth couldn't all see this movie to have a genuine appreciation of what so many Americans are facing. FROZEN RIVER is quiet but compelling cinema with elements of suspense and crime thriller. But it is really about poverty and the desperation to get away from it.
3.5 out of 4
FROZEN RIVER is a great example of the power of small-budget, independent cinema. It's a powerful story that a lot of people will end up overlooking simply because mainstream media will not make them aware of its existence. There is a chance, however, that an Oscar nomination could be in the cards for Melissa Leo, which could expose this excellent film to a wider audience. Leo plays a mother who is desperate to care for her two sons. She is almost penniless after her husband with a gambling problem takes off with money they'd saved to move into a double-wide trailer. Christmas Eve rolls around and she can't even afford a Hot Wheels track her younger son wants. There is nothing under the tree.
Circumstances put Leo's character in the path of another desperate single mom, a Mohawk Indian living on a reservation in upstate New York. The two women end up in the business of smuggling illegal immigrants over the U.S./Canada border by quickly driving over a frozen river. Each trip over that river was, to me, an exciting moment -- filled with danger and questions.
The relationship between these two completely different women with a common goal is quietly played, tense and fascinating. The actor playing the older son is fantastic as the newly-appointed man of the house. And Melissa Leo is great.
It's a shame that entitled and financially well-off youth couldn't all see this movie to have a genuine appreciation of what so many Americans are facing. FROZEN RIVER is quiet but compelling cinema with elements of suspense and crime thriller. But it is really about poverty and the desperation to get away from it.
3.5 out of 4
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