Frozen is Solid

We live in an era where America's borders are one of the hottest push-button issues facing our leaders and our citizenry. What was once primarily a major concern because of Mexican illegals coming across our borders to the South taking "our jobs" has evolved into a concern of whether or not terrorists are crossing through with plans of another 9/11. 

It is with this in mind that Courtney Hunt has penned and directed her first cinematic effort, entitled " Frozen River." But this is not a story about politics. It is about people who live on the edge, not knowing for certain whether they will have a place to live tomorrow or a piece of food to eat today. Hunt's goal seems to be to force us to re-examine our pre-conceived notions of illegal immigrants. For my money she has succeeded.

Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo) is married with two boys: one a teenager, the other about eight. Though she apparently has a husband, we never do get to meet him. He's off on a gambling binge - a regular occurrence for him - but this time he absconded with the funds needed to purchase their new double-wide mobile home. As the house of her dreams begins to disappear and the repo-men descend, fate hands her an odd but possible path to salvation: smuggling people across the Canadian border into America.

Lila, (Misty Upham) is a Mohawk woman living on the reservation. While Ray searches for her husband at the Mohawk casino, the paths of these two women cross. Ray is barely holding onto her sanity because of her plight. Lila, on the other hand, whose life is firing on even fewer cylinders, is as calm as can be. She's not all smiles, not living in a fantasy land of self-deceit and denial.  And she doesn't exactly project "peaceful." With the exception of later moments in the film, the only emotions Lila does show include slight signs of impatience and minor annoyance.  It appears that she has simply learned to accept that she has been dealt a particular hand in life and she has no choice but to play it.

The reason " Frozen River" works so well is because it doesn't go for the sweeping melodrama that so often dominates film and television. Instead, Ms. Hunt directs the actors so that everything is maintained at a fairly even keel.  But this steady pace only serves to accentuate the drama, bringing a level of tangible realism that is missing from so many films today.  Ms. Hunt understands that a tight story and the excellent acting is enough. There is no reason to dress it up. Melissa Leo is outstanding and Upham is a very good counterweight in this buddy film where each of these ladies understands the other even though very few words pass between them. Like the river, our two lead characters are locked in place by forces beyond their control, but also like the river they will melt; they too are not forever frozen in their seemingly dire situations.