[Airboss]

" Frozen River "- Director Courtney Hunt's debut is the best film you've proabaly never heard of.


This isn't a happy movie, but it is an excellent movie. It's a moive about what it takes to get by in life today and as we all know life isn't always happy or easy.


In this solid independently produced thriller/drama Melissa Leo as Ray Eddy gives an Oscar worthy performance!


To quote MaryAnn Johanson from Flick Filosopher

"The stories of women are so disparaged -- or worse, ignored -- in our culture unless they have something to do with pleasing men, but here's one that demands to be seen."


Frozen River 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.
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) Spoiler  
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) 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. Ray and Lila... and the New York State Trooper who ultimately brings the two to justice.


Highly Recommended! (Disclaimer: Not for action, SFX and CGI junkies)

 

[oink]

Tried to watch tonite, got about half way thru.

The screenplay is completely telegraphed...no suspense for me.

For example:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) Spoiler  
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) I knew instantly the moment "Mom" wanted to throw the bag out of the car (because it might have bombs or WMDs in it

) there was an infant in it.

Of course there would be, what else could be in there?

Poorly construed and poorly executed.


Not one major character in this film has an IQ beyond double digits, no one to root for (except maybe the 5 year old), no interesting character at all.

Maybe it's my age, but I need more than dumba$$es doing dumba$$ things to keep me from hitting the eject button.

 

[thehun]



Quote:
(Disclaimer: Not for action, SFX and CGI junkies)

Apparently it's not for people who don't like dumbasses doing dumbass things either.

 

[Airboss]



Quote:
Originally Posted by oink /forum/post/15792874


Tried to watch tonite, got about half way thru.

The screenplay is completely telegraphed...no suspense for me.

For example:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) Spoiler  
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) I knew instantly the moment "Mom" wanted to throw the bag out of the car (because it might have bombs or WMDs in it

) there was an infant in it.

Of course there would be, what else could be in there?

Poorly construed and poorly executed.


Not one major character in this film has an IQ beyond double digits, no one to root for (except maybe the 5 year old), no interesting character at all.

Maybe it's my age, but I need more than dumba$$es doing dumba$$ things to keep me from hitting the eject button.

I saw it more as desperate people doing desperate things to get by. Yes, some of the things they did and the way they did them were dumb but that's what desperate people do; they don't always think clearly.


As I said this is not a happy movie. It's a movie about despreation and the lengths that a single mom chooses to go to in order to get by.


Sorry you did not like the film but it is kind of a downer and not for everyone.


For me it's an excellent movie with some excellent performances, but of course YMMV.

 

[oink]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Airboss /forum/post/15795241


I saw it more as desperate people doing desperate things to get by. Yes, some of the things they did and the way they did them were dumb but that's what desperate people do; they don't always think clearly.


As I said this is not a happy movie. It's a movie about desperation and the lengths that a single mom chooses to go to in order to get by.


Sorry you did not like the film but it is kind of a downer and not for everyone.


For me it's an excellent movie with some excellent performances, but of course YMMV.

You are right, the performances are excellent (from essentially a no-name cast).


Perhaps I would have been interested, if the screenplay was better.


Part of my problem with this film is I have seen actual people, just like these characters, do similar idiotic things and end up at the bottom of the heap as a consequence.
Despite being given good advice by those that care about them.
Despite being told what horror will be visited upon them should they proceed down their path of choice, etc.

It is not funny, it is not interesting, it is only disheartening and a tragic waste of human lives.


The movie tries to portray this as a unique, moving story.

It isn't...it happens every day, in every village/town/city and it isn't redeeming in any way at all.


YMMV, of course.

 

[Ron Temple]

Absolutely nothing else in the BD section of Hollywood, so I picked this one up. Academy award nomination for best actress, why not? I'll have to agree with oink on this one.

The plot was telegraphed. The story was a grind. The performances could have been turned in by any of a stable of Lifetime/Oxygen players. Awards??? This looks like a case where a dart was thrown at a polictically correct indie and everyone jumped on board for the cause. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't entertaining even from a technical standpoint.

 

[Tnilsson]

I had problems with this movie. Predictable plot, not the best acting, and not the best direction/cinematography. I watched the whole thing, and it was okay, but it seemed like a made for TV movie to me, not like a film worthy of an Oscar nomination.

 

[gwsat]

I finally saw the Frozen River BD this evening and liked it a lot, so I return to this ancient thread in order to make a couple of comments. I agree with oink that this film focused on not very smart people who, because of their desperate circumstances, did not very smart things. Can anybody say, "Poor folks have poor ways?"


As we all seem to agree, the performances were wonderful. I thought the story was taut and well told, too. I never know what to make to Melissa Leo. She looks like a skank, down to her real life tattoos. That notwithstanding, though, I thought Leo was well cast as Ray, a poverty stricken rural single mother living in upstate New York. I also admired the talent of the young Indian actress who played another single mother, Ray's friend or henchman, depending on your point of view.


Bottom line, I enjoyed Frozen River immensely, 9 Stars out of 10.