Frozen River Movie Information

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Movie Information

Overall Rank: 2735

Average Rating: 2.8/4

# of Ratings: 47

Theatrical Release Date: 08/01/2008

Blu-ray/DVD Release Date: 02/10/2009

Language: English

Genre: Drama, Crime

MPAA Rating: R

Director: Courtney Hunt

Actors: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Michael O'Keefe, James Reilly, Charlie McDermott, Mark Boone Junior

Plot: Between New York state and Canada, a young women must smuggler goods in and out of both countries to try and survive. Around Christmas, she struggles to pay for things that are necessary for the holiday season. The story follows those who are involved and get involved to help the women make it through. Some make legal and illegal sacrifices to satisfy the human spirit.

dukeakasmudge - wrote on 10/19/2011

Wow! Awesome movie & way better then I thought it was gonna be

Amyaronson - wrote on 07/18/2011

The Academy's obligatory nod to independent films this year. It's a small, bleak, intimate film that comments on poverty, feminism, race, and illegal immigration. It's so low-key, that it gets kind of dull. The dialogue is really subtle, and the performances are so under-performed that it almost just looks like really bad acting. This movie leaves you feeling like something AWFUL is about to happen through the whole thing. It's a two-hour anxiety attack. The visual design and mood is cool, but the story and characters don't really hold up.

owenw405 - wrote on 11/29/2010

This one had me sitting on the edge of my seat at times. What a great look at the other border we rarely hear about and the human smuggling going on from The Great White North over the border to the US. Melissa Leo and Misty Upham give stand up performances as two unlikely friends trying to help each other in desperate times. One of my all time favorite indie films.

MovieMike
Director

Dark & Chilling, But Excellent

MovieMike - wrote on 12/22/2011

‘Frozen River’ is Courtney Hunt’s directorial debut and this work was honored at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival with the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Filmmaking. If you’ve never heard of this title, it’s understandable. This is yet another gem of an independent film that pretty much flew under the wire with regard to general movie audiences due to a limited release. Thanks to DVD, you can still enjoy this masterful work.

Ms Hunt’s story centers on two women who are both in difficult straights and reluctantly partner in the smuggling of illegal immigrants across the border in upstate New York. Melissa Leo (‘Righteous Kill’, ‘American Gun’) plays Ray Eddy, a struggling mom with two sons; a husband who can only be counted on to let the family down; and a pipe dream …

filmfan09
Producer

Leo's best film performance of her career.

filmfan09 - wrote on 04/06/2009

A desperate single mother living on the Canadian border, teams with a widowed tribe member to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States. This is first-time director/screenwriter Courtney Hunt's indie drama that won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Nominated for multiple Independent Sprit Awards, including Best Feature. Starring Melissia Leo (in an Oscar-nominated role) as Ray Eddy when just two days before Christmas, her husband leaves her and their two sons taking with him all of the family savings to gamble away. Leaving her dream to upgrade the family home to become futher distant. While out looking for him she makes the acquaintance of a Mohawk woman Lila Littlewolf (Misty Upham). Lila's a smuggler, taking illegal immigrants …