Frozen River (2008)

Director:

Courtney Hunt

Writer (WGA):

Courtney Hunt (written by)

Release Date:

31 October 2008 (Venezuela)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Desperation knows no borders.

Plot:

Takes place in the days before Christmas near a little-known border crossing on the Mohawk reservation between New York State and Quebec...

Plot Keywords:

Mohawk | Money | Border | Smuggling | Car

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Melissa Leo	...	Ray Eddy
Misty Upham	...	Lila Littlewolf
Charlie McDermott	...	Troy J. 'T.J.' Eddy
Michael O'Keefe	...	Trooper Finnerty
Mark Boone Junior	...	Jacques Bruno
James Reilly	...	Ricky Eddy
Jay Klaitz	...	Guy Versailles
John Canoe	...	Bernie Littlewolf
Dylan Carusona	...	Jimmy
Michael Sky	...	Billy Three Rivers
Gargi Shinde	...	Pakistani Mother
Rajesh Bose	...	Pakistani Father
Azin Jahanbakhsh	...	Pakistani Dealer
Jack Phillips	...	Pakistani Baby
James Phillips	...	Pakistani Baby

MPAA:

Rated R for some language.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | New Zealand:R16 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Sweden:7 | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:12 | Australia:MA | France:U | Singapore:PG | Ireland:12A | UK:15

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Company:

Cohen Media Group

Trivia:

Charlie McDermott and James Reilly, who play brothers, are, in actual life, cousins.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In Québec there are no license plates on the front of vehicles. However, there is a front Québec license plate mounted on the Toyota Forerunner driven in the second smuggling.

Quotes:

Ray Eddy: I think we need to talk about this Troy... come on out. Troy?
[shoots gun]
Ray Eddy: ... I mean it Honey.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "At the Movies: (#6.2)" (2009)

Dirty And Sleazy But Reality

Frozen River never even gets close to something of a positive tone. The movie is about a mother of two having her husband abandon them on 10 days before Christmas. To make matters worse the family is in dire straits needing money. As a result Melissa Leo, who plays the mother, begins to smuggle illegal immigrants across the border to make money.

Melissa Leo's performance in this movie is very good but hard to watch. The movie is tough and shows poverty in American and in Indian reservations continuously. Her performance showed the desperation of a single mother and the price she will pay to get what she needs.

The writing and directing of the movie was executed very well but I couldn't help but just have a bad feeling after the movie. I'm fine with negative movie but there seemed to be almost no hope for anyone in this film. Some stretches were of the film were dragging on but still a good film. If your in the mood watch this movie.