First time director Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River is a tale of two women from different walks of life, driven by financial hardships to form an unlikely partnership smuggling illegal immigrants across the Canadian border. Ray (Melissa Leo), is a struggling mother of two boys, who works at a dollar store and lives in a trailer home park in upstate New York. When Ray’s husband runs off with the money that is to be used as payments for the families new doublewide trailer, her life begins to spiral into a financial tailspin. While searching for her deadbeat husband Ray encounters Lila (Misty Upham), a Mohawk Indian from an area reservation who had stolen her husbands abandoned car from the bus station. Ray soon learns of Lila’s smuggling operation through a non police patrolled area of the Mohawk territory, the frozen St. Lawrence River, and out of necessity they form an uneasy alliance. As the film wears on, the tension builds, for Ray trying to make the final payments on her new home and for Lila attempting to earn enough money to redeem herself to her in-laws to get her child back. It is as story about two completely different women who find common ground while struggling through an unforgiving economy. Unfortunately, a truly compelling storyline is lacking in this film and there is very little dialogue to help the visually impaired keep up. Melissa Leo’s performance was very gritty and real, however does not hold up to the magnitude of the other nominees.
Nominated for:
Best Actress: Melissa Leo
(Sony Classics)
Starring: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott and James Reilly
