Movie:  ”Frozen River”

“Frozen River” web site
LA Times Review of “Frozen River”
“Frozen River” Trailer on YouTube
BlackTree TV Interview of Melissa Leo and Misty Upham on YouTube
Interview of Writer/Director Courtney Hunt on YouTube

* * * * * +++ (5+++ out of 5)

THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE I’VE SEEN IN YEARS.  It’s engrossing and the two lead actresses are superb.  This low-budget indie film deservedly won Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.  I’m waiting for “Frozen River” and its two lead actresses to win more awards.

“Frozen River” is the story of two women caught in desperate situations in upstate New York a week before Christmas.  One woman is white; the other is Native American and lives on the Mohawk reservation.  Motivated by their tough economic situations and love for their children, they enter into a very tense relationship to illegally make money.

The acting is so believable and the plot so interesting that I found myself fervently hoping each time that Ray (played by Melissa Leo) and Lila (played by Misty Upham (Blackfeet)) would not make yet another dangerous run.

Love for family — at times a true-to-life, gritty “tough love” — is a repeated theme throughout this movie.

The ending is not a fairytale ending.  The ending is to me is just perfect — it is at the same time grittily realistic and inspirational.

Movie trivia: Misty Upham gained fourty pounds and shaved her hair to play the part of Lila.

Courtney Hunt wrote and directed this movie.

How did you like “Frozen River?”