| | |  | Jazz | Home » » » Frozen River | | | | | | | Description: | | Frozen River is a dramatic feature film which 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. Melissa Leo (21 Grams, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, television's Homicide: Life on the Street) plays Ray, Misty Upham (Edge of America, DreamKeeper, Skins) plays Lila, and Oscar nominee Michael O'Keefe (The Great Santini, Caddyshack, Ironweed) plays the New York State Trooper who ultimately brings the two to justice. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O'Keefe, Mark Boone Junior | | Director:
| Courtney Hunt | | Format:
| AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Subtitle:
| French | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Sony Pictures | | Run Time:
| 97 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| February 10, 2009 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 69 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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 stunningly true to lifeFeb 06, 2010
I can't imagine the kind of people who gave this negative reviews. I live in upstate New York, and from the opening moments of the film I "knew" the places and the people, and understood their hard choices. Great direction & performances, couldn't have been done better with a big budget.
 what a woman goes through for a house for her children?Jan 17, 2010
We have a broken marriage, a double wide pre-fab home and an Indian smuggler
who needs a car badly.
Nothing really goes right for this woman after her husband leaves.
The irony seems to be that her husband is a fellow with a gambling addiction that takes him onto
the Mohawk reservation. Where his car becomes the meeting of the young Mohawk woman
and the mother trying to get that better home for her children.
They become a smuggling "team": the connections are the Mohawk's the car is the
"white" lady. After a duffle bag with a child is left behind
and the child appears dead, but comes back to life,
a bond forms between the two women.
This movie is a strange story that grips you.
The underclassDec 29, 2009
Hollywood rarely offers honest depictions of poor or working class America. In this way, "Frozen River" is a pioneer film.
In the first shot of the film, the audience is introduced to Ray, the main character (played with brave, ferocious realism by Melissa Leo) as she sits outside her trailer in the cold, her raw, middle-aged face shedding bitter tears. Ray's irresponsible husband has taken off with the money they had saved to put a down payment on their new home, leaving her alone, broke, and responsible for her two children.
Ray is not a damsel in distress type. She puts on a brave face for her children, her angry teenage son and cherubic five year old, and goes out in search of her husband. By chance, she comes across a young Mohawk woman and falls into a lucrative, yet dangerous, position as an immigrant smuggler.
And so it begins. I doubt there is anyone in the audience who can blame Ray for her actions. She's desperate, alone, has children to provide for, and only a menial job working in a dollar store to provide an income. All she wants is a tiny little portion of the American Dream - a decent home for her kids. She's not lazy or stupid, she's just a normal woman trying to survive and take care of her family. So it's heartbreaking to watch her involvement in crime bring more and more anguish and trouble into her already bleak life.
As a suspenseful drama, "Frozen River" is interesting and entertaining. And as a portrait of the American underclass, it's unfliching.
Gritty, cutting-edge crime dramaDec 28, 2009
I recently saw Frozen River, at a local theater. This indie film revolves around two impoverished single mothers; one white, and the other a member of the Mohawk Native American tribe. The setting of the film takes place in the harsh, bleak climate of upstate NY, near the Canadian border during wintertime.
Melissa Leo is brilliant as the haggard, world-weary single mother, Ray. Ray's gambling-addict husband, has left her and their 2 sons in the lurch. Right before Christmas, he splits with the savings that Ray had planned to use as payment, for a better trailer home than the one her family has been residing in.
Ray tries in vain to support herself and her children, on income from a part-time retail job. She doesn't get the promotion to Manager, that she had expected at her job. As a result, Ray and her family are in dire economic straits; they subsist on popcorn and powdered juice, are on the verge of having their TV repossessed by a rent-to-own store, and face a Christmas without presents. Worst of all, the coveted 'double-wide' trailer home that Ray has long dreamed of purchasing, is an impossibility, without the savings that her husband ran off with.
In desperation, Ray goes looking for her husband in a gambling Casino, located in Mohawk tribal territory. One of the young Native American women of the tribe, Lila (played with a dry, dour efficiency by Misty Upham) steals the car that Ray's husband had abandoned, in the Casino parking-lot. Ray sees this, and pursues Lila to her tiny trailer home, located in a remote woodsy area.
Lila is also a single mom whose husband had died, and left her with a 1-year-old son to raise alone. Lila doesn't want to give Ray the car back, and doesn't respond to threats that Ray will turn Lila in to the local cops. According to Lila, white man's law is void in Mohawk territory. After a brief scuffle with Lila, Ray pulls a pistol, and shoots a hole in Lila's trailer. Frightened by this, Lila makes Ray an offer; if she lets Lila keep the car, then Ray can join Lila in her lucrative immigrant smuggling operation. Ray reluctantly agrees.
This film offers-up lots of stark, yet gorgeous, moody scenery. It dovetails well, with the gripping suspense of the smuggling-runs made by Ray and Lila. They must always keep one step ahead of the local State Troopers, hope that the sleazy smuggling kingpins pay them what they are owed, and complete their smuggling-runs without the frozen river caving in.
The basic premise of the film is grim, but highlights the lengths that two desperate single mothers could be driven to, in order to support their families. We need more films that address the serious plight of the working-poor, in American today. Especially films about poor single mothers, and the acute economic hardships that many of them face in today's economy.
The main problem with Frozen River, is that there are some implausible plot details, throughout the film. The producers obviously wanted to make a film with lots of emotional impact, and depth. They succeeded, but also should have made sure that they smoothed-out the rough edges in the storyline. Overall though, I would recommend Frozen River. The gorgeous cinematography, and especially the strong performances by the two lead actresses, make this film worth watching.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Frozen RiverOct 22, 2009
Excellent movie with powerful performances by the entire cast. It takes place in Alaska and deals with real situations people are faced with in life... poverty, trying to advance in life, kids, nature, people of other races, etc... Worth buying and watching more than once.
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