Review: Frozen River (2008)

RATING (0 TO ****):  ***

FROZEN RIVER is a touching tale about people on the economic edge who turn
to crime as a way out of their misery.  With acting that doesn't miss a
beat, the sad story concerns a couple of women who take to smuggling illegal
Chinese aliens across the Canadian border into the United States.  Once in
the land of the free and the home of the brave, these illegals are expected
to work for a couple of years to pay off the forty to fifty thousand dollars
they paid the gang, ominously known as the Snake Heads, who organized their
smuggling.

The two women in FROZEN RIVER, Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo) and Lila (Misty
Upham), who incur most of the risks by taking the illegals across the border
by using Mohawk reservation property, get a small cut of the action.  Both
are effectively single moms who have kids to support.  Ray's husband, who
has a gambling addiction, is AWOL.  Lila, so far as we know, was never
married in the first place.

Both, reluctantly taking the money to commit the crimes, have different
needs.  Although Ray has a job at the local Yankee Mart, it is only
part-time work, and it pays poorly.  Her dream is a double-wide mobile home
for her family.  A while back she and her husband put down a deposit on
their new mobile home, but her husband skipped out with the rest of the
money.

The middle-aged and very haggard looking Ray has a body full of wrinkles,
every one of which feels like it has a tale of woe that it wants to share.
Her two kids are getting tired of eating and drinking the only thing in
their run down little trailer -- popcorn and Tang.  The family appears to
live in a town that doesn't have food stamps or public assistance.  While
this is unlikely, the movie makes the town and its characters appear
completely genuine.

The landscape is full of snow, lit by a bright winter sun.  As the winds
howl and the haunting music plays, you can feel a certain sense of chill go
up and down your spine.

Lila, who is in her twenties, is a member of the Mohawk tribe, but she is
something of a persona non grata for her wayward ways.  Her one-year-old
baby is living with someone else, but Lila hopes to use the cash earned
through her criminal endeavors to have enough to be able to care for her
child and to get her back.

The two women don't trust each other much until the end.  Their partnership
is a matter of convenience, since each has something the other needs.  Lila
has the contacts with the smuggling gang, while Ray has both a car and a
white face.  We are told that people like Trooper Finnerty (Michael O'Keefe)
will not stop and inspect cars driven by white women.

That the story is heading to some kind of tragic ending appears obvious.
What will put their crime spree to an end and how bad the consequences will
be isn't clear.  What does transpire is poignant and believable.

Even if you're sure you'd never even contemplate the actions taken by Ray
and Lila, you will be touched by their situations, which FROZEN RIVER
captures perfectly without ever feeling the need to manipulate our emotions.

Still, I've got to admit, in the wrong hands this movie could have been
sappy, unbelievable and downright awful.  But first-time writer and director
Courtney Hunt really nails it with deft skills.

FROZEN RIVER runs a brisk 1:37.  It is rated R for "some language" and would
be acceptable for teenagers.

The film opens in limited release in the United States on Friday, August 15,
2008.  In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the
Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.

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Email: Steve.Rho...@InternetReviews.com

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