Frozen River

Copyright 2009, Sony Pictures Classics

I must be in a grumpy mood this weekend, because a movie like Frozen River, one that's been somewhat of a darling to some critics since it premiered at some film festivals last year and ended up garnering its lead actress, Melissa Leo, a Best Actress nomination at last year's Oscars, just didn't work that much for me. Though the plot is, in itself, incredibly engrossing and most of the performances work, something about the story, written and directed by first-timer Courtney Hunt, fell flat.

First of all, I'm going to play contrarian and wonder why exactly Melissa Leo got that nomination. OK, being honest, I know exactly why she got nominated. Independent film that most people have never heard of? Check. Actress whose face, not name, is familiar? Check. Actress in "raw" and "gritty" role? Check, check, check. Though she's not bad, Leo's not worthy of an Oscar nomination, whether the field wasn't exactly heavily populated last year. Here's the thing: in the first shot we see of Leo's character, Ray Eddy, she's smoking a cigarette. Simple enough. Oh, no, not here; here, Leo crumples her face in, sucking on the cigarette with every ounce of oxygen she's got. Why? Because that's how a "real person" would do it, and capturing "real life" is what this movie, and Leo's performance, is all about.

Unfortunately, the plot is more fascinating than the film alongside it. Ray is this close to being completely broke, trying to support her kids on a part-time salary at a dollar store in upstate New York. Her husband has vanished with a good chunk of cash, and when a Mohawk woman named Lila ends up stealing his abandoned car, Ray chases her down. They end up embarking on an odd friendship, sealed by their attempts to smuggle illegal immigrants across the river stretching from New York to Canada, all on the Mohawk reservation.

Obviously, there's lots of intriguing territory here, along with heaping doses of suspense. Why, then, does it feel like Hunt's too busy trying to show me how destitute the people in this film are? A good portion of the film is spent more on establishing that, yes, these people are poor. They are desperate. See, Ray works at a dollar store and can't get the manager to give her a full-time position (the manager's reasons make absolutely no sense, by the way). See, she lives in a trailer and wants to move up to a doublewide. See, her car's old. Get it? They're poor. Are you aware of that?

Frankly, whatever problems I have do not extend to the other actors, especially Misty Upham. Upham, who plays Lila, is prickly when dealing with Ray or even her own family. Lila's a more fully realized character who never seems desperate, despite all signs pointing to that fact. Though she's obviously not as experienced a film actress as Leo is, her side of the friendship is far more realistic.

At the end of the day, the problem with Frozen River is its inconsistent relationship with realism. At one pivotal point in the film, Ray has no interest in driving some Pakistanis over, only because she thinks that the bag they're carrying must have a bomb in it. Apparently, I'm supposed to side with a hypocrite who has no common sense. Now, I know what you're saying: I'm probably not supposed to side with Ray. The ending would have you think differently. Though it's not particularly happy, we're supposed to be glad that Ray won't be too worse off for being a smuggler for a few months. Sigh. Though it wears its indie cred on its sleeve, Frozen River is a movie in search of a stronger and more realistic, not "realistic," performance and a stronger script.