GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Film

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

 

Wide Releases

sort by name sort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 

Limited Releases

sort by name sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Frozen River
Sony Pictures Classics

Frozen River reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 82 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.3 out of 10
based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 32 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for some language

Starring Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Michael O'Keefe, Charlie McDermott, and Mark Boone Jr.

Frozen River is the story of Ray Eddy, an upstate New York trailer mom who is lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling when she meets a Mohawk girl who lives on a reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border. Broke after her husband takes off with the down payment for their new doublewide, Ray reluctantly teams up with Lila, a smuggler, and the two begin making runs across the frozen St. Lawrence River carrying illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants in the trunk of Ray’s Dodge Spirit. (Sony Pictures Classics)


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Courtney Hunt  
DIRECTED BY: Courtney Hunt  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: February 10, 2009 
Theatrical: August 1, 2008 
RUNNING TIME: 97 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
Film Threat Don R. Lewis
It's tough and cold and gives an inside look at poverty in America. Yet the film is also incredibly compelling and intense and I can't think of another film that's this small and powerful.
Read Full Review
100
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
As the summer heats up, let Frozen River wash over you; let its bracing drama and the intensity of its acting restore your spirits as well as your faith in American independent film.
Read Full Review
100
Time Richard Schickel
In the end, you feel that Frozen River gives about as truthful a picture of American bleakness as it's possible for a movie to present. It is a movie that asks something of an audience, but it richly rewards our curiously rapt attention.
Read Full Review
100
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Sometimes two performances come along that are so perfectly matched that no overt signals are needed to show how the characters feel about each other. That's what happens between Melissa Leo and Misty Upham in Frozen River.
Read Full Review
100
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
There is nothing sentimental or picturesque about the performances or imagery. The word that best describes both is elemental.
Read Full Review
91
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
A tale of ordinary Americans scraping bottom, yet there's a redemption in that. The film asks: If you were this desperate, wouldn't you do the same?
Read Full Review
90
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
This is a debut feature, though you'd never know it from the filmmaker's commandingly confident style, or from the heartbreaking beauty -- heartbreaking, then heartmending -- of Melissa Leo's performance as a poor single mother who's living her whole life on thin ice.
Read Full Review
90
The New York Times Stephen Holden
Ms. Hunt's eye for detail has the precision of a short story writer's. She misses nothing.
Read Full Review
90
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Made with uncommon skill and assurance, the film never succumbs to rank sentimentality, but it manages to get at the nuances of human relationships.
Read Full Review
88
Boston Globe Ty Burr
Does what too many independent American movies only pretend to do: Takes you to an unnoticed corner of our country and shows what it's like to actually live there.
Read Full Review
88
USA Today Claudia Puig
A Sundance hit that is both absorbing and bleak, Frozen River is anchored by powerful performances, believable scenarios and excellent writing.
Read Full Review
88
Chicago Tribune Tasha Robinson
Possibly one of the biggest reasons Frozen River stands out among bad-decision movies is that Ray never really tries to justify her actions.
Read Full Review
88
TV Guide Ken Fox
Strikingly authentic, socially conscious crime drama.
Read Full Review
88
New York Post Lou Lumenick
There is no shortage of indie movies about economically challenged women. This one is different, in that the women actually do something besides just talk about it.
Read Full Review
83
Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Melissa Leo is startlingly good...You feel like you're watching a life, not a performance.
Read Full Review
80
Village Voice Ella Taylor
If there's one thing this movie gets dead right, it's the desperation of impoverished single mothers trying to fend for their children.
Read Full Review
80
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Frozen River isn't cinematically ambitious or formally adventurous, but it's built around powerful and nuanced performances by Leo, Upham and Charlie McDermott.
Read Full Review
80
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
A first-rate thriller, maintaining a high level of suspense.
Read Full Review
78
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Frozen River skates matter-of-factly on thin ice.
Read Full Review
75
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
A solid, satisfying movie.
Read Full Review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
The film's greatest achievement is that it allows us to know Ray.
Read Full Review
75
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Melissa Leo is one of America's most underrated character actresses, and Frozen River confirms that opinion.
Read Full Review
75
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's not a happy film, but it feels true.
Read Full Review
75
The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
If the role brings her more recognition and work, all the better, but Leo certainly isn't lobbying for it. She doesn't show off. She just does what she's always done: Reveals a character for who she is, nothing more, nothing less.
Read Full Review
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White
Most films about illegal immigration are set on the Mexican border, and Frozen River is free of the stereotypical characters and situations of that familiar setting. It also offers a rare look at modern Native American life, exploring the ambiguity of what it means to say that the laws of the white man cannot be enforced on Indian territory.
Read Full Review
70
Variety Robert Koehler
No trendsetter or breakthrough, this is more than anything else a welcome chance for the fine actor Melissa Leo to finally dominate a film in a terrific and affecting lead role.
Read Full Review
70
New York Magazine David Edelstein
All in all, Frozen River is gripping stuff. Except it's also rigged and cheaply manipulative.
Read Full Review
50
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
If we're going to be honest, we need to look inside and ask ourselves: Do we really want to see a listless movie about a woman whose dream is to move into a double-wide trailer?
Read Full Review
40
New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
Has moments of honesty, but more often the barren landscape - both outside and inside - drains the emotions out of the film.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

aideen m gave it a6:
I stopped watching this movie after 10 minutes. Although the acting seemed fine, the movie was just too grim to watch with my grandchildren.

Tony B. gave it a7:
Here is a small film that delivers big. Let's see more of Melissa Leo.

S M gave it a1:
This movie was pretty boring. The story was OK, but the acting and directing was really weak. I cannot accept such a high user rating.

Nerijus D gave it a3:
Lame movie. Very poor direction, cinematography and supporting cast. The script has many holes as well. Some felt even ridiculous.

Colin C gave it a7:
I can see why reviewers and many other people liked this film. It certainly was an interesting look into the lives of people far removed from me. But it was also so bleak that I just felt completely drained at the end of it. Worth checking out if you're into non-commercial fare that explores some interesting themes revolving around sad, depressing people and their sad lives. And the look into how modern Indian reservations work, especially in regards to the white man's laws just outside their borders, was truly fascinating.

Muriel G. gave it a2:
I live on the reservation depicted. Not only were some scenes too dark - many facts are left out and the reality of Akwesasne here is again stereotyped. The only true pictures of here were the bridge - The movie mocks our tribal police, puts us all in rundown trailers, and made our Bingo Palace (which is eluded to by name in one scene) look rundown and the center of vandalism. And , of course the Mohawks are depicted as not caring about terrorist threats when they are smuggling people - "Only" the white woman in this film shows any concern or recognition of such threats - yet she is so stupid she throws a baby in a satchel out the door in case it may be something dangerous like(anthrax? or a bomb) she never looked to see what was in it. Another thing I have yet to see a big rig cross the "ice bridge" here. Parts of the film did hold my interest, the mention of our traditional Longhouse only puts traditionals down for not giving their children Santa Claus. What they are and what they truly represent, which is (I am sure) the key to continuation of life on this planet is a shame - so many people seeing this film have and will think what they saw represents this Nation (the Mohawk Nation). It never tells of all of the good honest & hard working people that live here nor how it was taken from our ancestors forcing a very few of our people to take some wrong actions. That would be a better focus for the movie. Unfortunately, the racism that we experience, does exist. The wrongs done to our people were done by the same terrorists they fear (themselves) when they took over our continent - do a film depicting that! ONe of your reviewers even sees this movie as the Mohawk woman and the white woman as correcting the past??? HUH??? How may I ask.

Jonah R. gave it a2:
Amatuerish and fake. It has one or two decent performances but nothing to get excited about. A movie about a woman who made many poor choices and yet we're suppose to become emotionally involved over her plight to earn her trailer house via illegal means. The ending rang false and there were many times I found myself rolling my eyes at the stupidity of the screenplay. I.E. Lila's eyesight was so poor that she couldn't count the money they earned...yet she can see tracks in the snow on a dark night on a frozen river.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this movie in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: iPhone 3G | Fantasy Football | Moneywatch | Antivirus Software | Recipes | E3 2009

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use