Directed by
Courtney Hunt
Rated MA
Reviewed by
Sharon Hurst
Frozen River
Synopsis: Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo) is a single mum living in a trailer home with her two sons, TJ (Charles McDermott) and Ricky (James Reilly). Her gambling husband has run off with all their savings, which were to be used as a down payment on a bigger and better trailer. Ray struggles to make ends meet, working for peanuts at the local Yankee Dollar store. She meets Lila (Misty Upham), a local Mohawk woman living on the reservation who smuggles illegal immigrants across the border from Canada to America. In financial desperation, Ray joins forces with Lila, stowing the illegals in the boot of her car and making runs across the frozen St Lawrence River. The whole business is fraught with dangers both physical and emotional and the upshot will change both women’s lives.Frozen River is well worth making the effort to see, for it is a film with intelligence and compassion and is a welcome alternative to multiplex dross.
Writer-director Hunt came across several true stories about women involved in smuggling to get money to raise their kids. She pondered on exactly what would lead them into such a risky trade. In her words: “What I discovered was that a mother’s instinct to protect her children is more powerful than any cultural, political or economic boundary line. Ray and Lila embodied the unheralded struggle of single mothers of all ethnicities who are living on the edge.”
It is too easy in life to have fixed stereotypes in one’s head about people one only knows of remotely. This film cuts past all these stereotypes to the heart of the humanity and in particular to the common bond between the women. And yet it is not superficially about bonding, as, for much of the film, there is a strong distrust and even dislike between Ray and Lila. Disillusion looms large in both their experiences along with a fierce, unqualified love for their kids. Ray’s level of poverty is such that before pay day there is only popcorn and lemonade for every meal, and at Christmas she is at at how to get a present for young Ricky.
The dynamic tension between Ray and 15-year-old son TJ is exceptionally well portrayed. TJ (superbly acted by Charles McDermott) takes great care of young Ricky, with an empathy that far exceeds his years. His frustration at not being allowed to work is offset by Ray’s determination that he get an education.
The two lead actresses are a brilliant match. Leo is up for a Best Actress nomination, and would get my vote, for the way she invests Ray with a complex mix of despair, resilience, brittleness and determination, coupled with a strong sense of morality. Upham has an impressive screen presence, with a surly tough exterior masking a deep-seated grief for the fate of her child who has been taken from her. The courage she gets from her relationship with Ray is inspiring, as the culturally-ingrained white-versus-indigenous tensions take a back seat.
Hunt takes no sides in this story. There is no condemnation of the women – in fact the only people who stand convicted are their menfolk who so callously ship out on them. Even the local policeman is depicted as having compassion for the women in such dire straits.
Some will resist this film because it deals with life’s grim realities. Certainly it is heavy-going in parts – the washed out blues, greys and whites filter our view of the women's cold, snow-covered town, and the feelings of loss and hopelessness are in your face. Combined with this is the constant fear of what may happen as they cross the river and the plot twists and turns, seldomly where you expect. Notwithstanding the wrenching grimness, the strength of performances, along with the unexpected ending with its amazing final scene, put Frozen River among my top films for the year so far.
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