1. ChadS.

   9

   This is not Woody Allen's New York. This New York has a bingo parlour, a trailer park, an Indian reservation. Annie Hall doesn't live here. Ray Eddy(Melissa Leo) lives here. And her New York wouldn't look more romantic shot in black and white with "Rhapsody in Blue" insinuating itself on the soundtrack. Ray is so poor, she has problems making payments on a mobile home. Because she's poor, Ray gets to know the "Indians" in a way that Annie Hall, or any one of Allen's characters never would. "Frozen River" treats Native Americans as people, flawed people, real people, instead of people that are inherently noble because they had their land stolen from them. People like Lila(Misty Upham), who helps Chinese illegals cross the Canadian border into New York State. To Ray, Lila is just "some Indian chick". To help herself realize the dream of owning a "double-wide trailer"(oh, that is so sad), Ray joins forces with the Native American woman, as the film ingeniously comments on the historical relationship between the natives and the settlers through this tenuous bond of renegade women without being the least bit didactic about it. "Frozen River" plays out like a film with post-colonial ideals, but then the film suddenly, dramatically, becomes self-reflexive about it's post-colonialism when Ray tells Lila, "Now we're even," after she gets back what's rightfully hers. These loaded words hang in the air without the slightest indication by Ray of her own naivety. Post-colonial theory is predicated on having a short memory. Ray's words are a perfect encapsulation of their selective thinking process. "Frozen River" portrays white man's guilt over the Indian holocaust without the well-meaning fabulism of Kevin Costner's "Dances with Wolves", choosing instead to suture the rift between both peoples through sublimation. Both Ray and Lila live in a vacuum(but the film doesn't). When they befriend each other, both women are unaware that they're correcting the past.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.
2. PattiL.

   8

   Very good story set across Canadian-native-American borders. Intertwining of women lives from different backgrounds while exploring family and racial issues.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 1 users said Yes.
3. nutterjr

   7

   The rule that independent American films have more substance than their Hollywood counter parts is yet again reaffirmed. The weight of the film is carried on the shoulders of the brilliant Melissa Leo who plays the down-ridden, abandoned mother of two, struggling to provide them a better life. It is the side of America that is anything but illustrious but yet so true to many.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 1 users said Yes.
4. JonahR.

   2

   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.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 2 users said Yes.

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