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 23 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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 | Chinese | Urdu

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 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Company:

Cohen Media Group

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Based on the car license plates on the Canadian side, and the Quebecois dialogue of the Canadian characters, the implied smuggling route runs directly across the St Lawrence River (or another major nearby river) from Quebec into N.Y. State. However, at no point does any major river (including the St Lawrence) form the boundary between Quebec and upstate N.Y. The St Lawrence does however form the boundary between upstate N.Y. and the (largely English-speaking) province of Ontario, and there is a major Mohawk Indian reservation situated on the N.Y. side of that section of the Canada-U.S. boundary.

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 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Realistic and Depressing Story

In Massena, New York, nearby a Mohawk Reservation and the Canadian border, the middle-aged Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo) is left by her husband a couple of days before Christmas. Her husband is a gambler and stole the family savings and the car, driving to an unknown destination and leaving Ray alone and without money to raise her two sons. When she sees the Mohawk Lila Littlewolf (Misty Upham) driving her car, she follows the woman up to her trailer to retrieve the car. Lila lures her telling that she has a buyer for the vehicle, but she actually wants to use the large trunk to smuggler illegal immigrants from Canada into the United States through a frozen river in the Mohawk Reservation. Ray unsuccessfully tries to convince her boss to promote her in her part time job; without any alternative to make honest money, Ray decides to associate to Lila to raise enough money to pay for her dream house and do not lose her down payment.

"Frozen River" is an overrated little movie with a realistic and depressing story of two women that smuggle people to raise money to support their families. Melissa Leo has a stunning performance in the role of a desperate mother that is going to lose the house she has dreamed to raise her sons after her addicted husband stealing the family savings. Unfortunately the plot is short and for viewers that live in Third World countries, the drama is Ray is original only in the environment. Her financial situation does not justify the smuggling and is equivalent (or worse) than poor people acting as mules transporting drugs for example. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Rio Congelado" ("Frozen River")