Please enter your birth date to watch this video:
You are not allowed to view this material at this time.
X
Frozen River Image

Frozen River

Release Date:
82
Metascore
 30 reviews
7.9
User Score
 81 ratings

Watch Now

Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand
Rate Movie
Director: Courtney Hunt
Writer: Courtney Hunt
Production: Cohen Media Group
Movie Details: Frozen River is the story of Ray Eddy, an upstate New York trailer mom who is lured into the world
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 ofFrozen 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)
… Expand
Genre(s): Drama Crime
MPAA Rating: R
Production: Cohen Media Group
Runtime: 97 min
Home Release Date: Feb 10, 2009
Country: USA
Languages: English French Chinese Urdu
Director: Courtney Hunt
Writer: Courtney Hunt
Starring:
Now Playing:
Play Sound
Please enter your birth date to watch this video:
You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Rate Movie

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Add your rating

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Spoiler Alert!
0/5000
Critic Reviews
(30)
82
Metascore Universal acclaim
28 Positive Ratings 93%
2 Mixed Ratings 6%
0 Negative Ratings 0%
Based on 30 Critic Reviews View All
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
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
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
80
Empire
Angie Errigo
"Original, sad, suspenseful and involving: the kind of work that helps independent American cinema retain its good name." ... 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
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
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
Critic Reviews
User Reviews
(21)
7.9
User Score Generally favorable reviews
67 Positive Ratings 82%
8 Mixed Ratings 9%
6 Negative Ratings 7%
Based on 81 Ratings and 21 Reviews View All
10
MarcieLangela
Dec 9, 2011
This is the greatest film I have seen in a long time. How didn't Melissa Leo win the Oscar for this? This is the performance of a lifetimeThis is the greatest film I have seen in a long time. How didn't Melissa Leo win the Oscar for this? This is the performance of a lifetime that will hopefully go down as a classic.… Expand
10
BeaR.
Aug 23, 2008
At last ... a really great movie made in the last few years. (I had given up hope.) The fascinating tale was flawlessly written and directed. At last ... a really great movie made in the last few years. (I had given up hope.) The fascinating tale was flawlessly written and directed. It's neither plot nor character driven ... it's both ... as great literature should be. Amazing performances by Leo, Upham, and the kids. A beautiful, deadly setting in a frozen winterscape completes the artistic whole. (One reviewer felt the cold made the viewer listless ... what a stupid thing to say!).… Expand
10
FredA.
Nov 26, 2008
A stark and stunning look at poverty and prejudice in America, tempered by the gritty performances of the lead actors and their portrayals of A stark and stunning look at poverty and prejudice in America, tempered by the gritty performances of the lead actors and their portrayals of people who can still hope and strive, despite their personal fears and suspicions of "outsiders".… Expand
7
ColinC
Mar 1, 2009
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 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.… Expand
7
nutterjr
Dec 9, 2010
The rule that independent American films have more substance than their Hollywood counter parts is yet again reaffirmed. The weight of theThe 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
5
FilipeNeto
Jul 23, 2021
This film is a drama set on the border between the US and Canada, specifically between the US state of New York and the Canadian Quebec. TheThis film is a drama set on the border between the US and Canada, specifically between the US state of New York and the Canadian Quebec. The story is a very well-constructed drama, which begins by introducing us to the financial difficulties experienced by Ray Eddy, a woman recently abandoned by her husband (who ran away with family savings). After a fortuitous car incident, she meets Lila Littlewolf, a Mohawk Indian who lives on an Indian reservation, a territory with specific rules and its own police jurisdiction. It will be Lila who will assist Ray, introducing her to a risky but lucrative way of life: transporting illegal immigrants across the border.

The film wisely bets on creating an atmosphere of tension and drama. The way she introduces us to the protagonist's financial difficulties is convincing, and the way she reacts to the problems is equally credible. The family drama is very well explored, with human trafficking portrayed not just as a crime, but as something deemed necessary to survive. There are, however, several moments throughout the film that are hard to become credible, and where the logic of the characters' attitudes and behavior is forced. This is the case with the situation with the baby, or the way in which the two women threaten a mobster with a gun so as not to be cheated in the payment that was owed to them. These are punctual moments in which, in favor of greater drama (which was also necessary), the film risked losing the logical coherence it maintained. Unfortunately, the film doesn't get much further than that and has little juice for a more appealing story.

The cast is competent, and Melissa Leo proved to be a good choice for the protagonist. She was able to embody the character and look ordinary, just like any middle-aged woman from modest backgrounds. In fact, she gave the character a strong, combative personality, used to the hardships of a life of setbacks. Leo's work is counterbalanced by Melissa Upham, competent in the role of indigenous Lila. She was good enough, but the character hasn't developed as happily and leaves many questions in the air, such as why she started transporting immigrants, and what would be the consequences for the reservation if they had tried to protect her from the formal authorities. The rest of the cast is limited to simple roles, somewhat one-dimensional and limited.

Technically, it's a low-key movie with interesting points. Set during winter, the cold, snow and ice are constant and were intelligently used in the construction of a cinematography of cold, gray and bluish colors, and low contrast. There are a lot of night scenes and car interiors, but I don't think the film was able to give us the feeling of a closed, capsular and small car-like environment. The movie's pace is reasonably slow, and that might tire some people, but it gives the movie more time to build the heavy, dramatic environment it's based on. The sets and costumes aren't remarkable, but they fit the story, and I felt that the film didn't spend a lot on that and that it played on a very limited budget.… Expand
0
Broyax
Jun 26, 2018
Dans Frozen river, on est dans du Zola et du Hugo à l'américaine et le misérabilisme plein pot, un plein jour de soldes. Ici, c'est la grandeDans Frozen river, on est dans du Zola et du Hugo à l'américaine et le misérabilisme plein pot, un plein jour de soldes. Ici, c'est la grande braderie de la misère sociale, même qu'ils auraient pu l'appeler "Les Misérables en hiver" qui font passer des migrants pour boucler les fins de mois...

Ici, les miséreux ont tous une sale gueule et une vilaine peau, y compris leurs mômes... faut dire que manger du pop-corn et boire du jeu d'orange (il est surgelé je présume), ça ne rend pas jouasse. En plus de ça, de tout ça, le film insiste pour mettre les minorités visibles en avant et montrer le flic comme un SS ressorti d'outre-tombe. Et en plus, vous voyez, le flic est implicitement raciste, oui raciste envers les Amérindiens et leur pauvre réserve.

Et puis, l'hiver est rude, un jour il fait -20, un autre -28... et tout le monde est méchant avec les pauvres, personne ne veut leur faire crédit... mais ça, c'est peut-être parce qu'ils n'ont jamais un rond, ces sales pauvres ! vous vous rendez compte, obligés de faire les passeurs pour acheter à manger ! les passeuses plutôt avec la squaw dont l'enfant lui a été enlevé et l'autre toute seule avec son ado et son petit parce que le mari est allé jouer le maigre argent du ménage...

Mais c'est trop horrible. Vraiment trop horrible de montrer ça pendant un film entier parce que moi spectateur de base, j'en ai rien à branler de ces maudits pauvres qui se les gèlent près de la frontière canadienne. Car comme dirait un certain, ça m'en touche une sans faire bouger l'autre. Faites un documentaire, la prochaine fois.… Expand
User Reviews