Frozen River ****½ (2008, Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O’Keefe) – Classic Movie Review 548

Melissa Leo should have won the Best Actress Oscar for her inspired star role in writer-director Courtney Hunt’s sizzling 2008 thriller, but, instead, Kate Winslet did for her merely highly professional performance in The Reader.

Oscar nominated Leo is simply amazing as Ray Eddy, a tough, ultra-determined, but oddly vulnerable middle-aged mother who’s trying to survive on her own, raising two sons on virtually no income after her husband takes off.

The movie unfolds in the days before Christmas near a little-known border crossing on the Mohawk reservation between New York State and Quebec. When a Mohawk woman Lila Littlewolf  (Misty Upham) drives off Ray’s vehicle, she follows her and finds she’s smuggling illegal immigrants from Canada into the United States across the treacherous frozen St Lawrence River.

As Ray’s broke, she has little choice but to join forces with Littlewolf , dodging a New York State Trooper (Michael O’Keefe) in an increasingly dangerous cat-and-mouse scenario. With the acting, cinematography, scenery, script and direction absolutely fantastic, this is a real thriller, nailbiting all the way. The main triumph is Leo’s though, in a tour-de-life-force.

Courtney Hunt was also Oscar nominated for Best Original Screenplay. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

The American Film Institute voted it Movie of the Year. They said: ‘Frozen River challenges audiences to witness the strength and the character of America’s underclass – and, ultimately, asks if they have what it takes to endure such hardship. First-time feature filmmaker Courtney Hunt tells the story of two women from different worlds who stand together in an astoundingly bleak landscape – unlikely partners on economic thin ice. Their struggle unfolds with such authenticity – free from the comfort endemic to most American films – that the pain and power of the story are palpable. The performances of Melissa Leo and Misty Upham stand among this year’s finest.’

http://derekwinnert.com/the-reader-classic-film-review-536/

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Film Review 548 derekwinnert.com