MOVIE REVIEW
Frozen River (2008)
Jory Sutton/Sony Pictures Classics
“Frozen River” works as only the best movies can. It tells a taut, thought-provoking story
featuring characters moviegoers care about, and does so in a place we’ve never seen
before. The story involves the
smuggling of illegal immigrants; the characters are two single mothers; the
place is Plattsburgh, N.Y.; and the movie works because of the forceful
authenticity writer-director Courtney Hunt brings to her depiction of this
milieu. This is a movie completely
without contrivance, one anchored by Melissa Leo’s great, introspective lead
performance and the camera’s unembellished, straightforward eye.