Starring Melissa Leo, Misty Upham. Written and directed by Courtney Hunt. (14A) 97 min. Opens Aug 22.
The surprise winner of the dramatic competition at Sundance in January, Frozen River feels like a throwback to an earlier era for the festival, before average, well-intentioned issue-oriented indie dramas also required a slumming celeb in the cast to get past the programming committee.
Ironically, Courtney Hunt’s wintry border drama is most satisfying as a star vehicle, albeit for Melissa Leo, best remembered for her time on TV’s Homicide. She plays Ray Eddy, a tough-as-nails upstate New Yorker whose gambling-addict husband has just taken off with what little money her family has. With Christmas coming, a payment on a new trailer due and her two sons stuck eating popcorn for dinner, Ray’s desperate times require the desperate measure of involving herself in a human smuggling operation run out of a local Mohawk reservation.
Too-convenient plot contrivances make Frozen River seem not half as raw, unflinching and authentic as Hunt obviously intends. But at least Leo’s fierce performance gives it the right note of urgency, especially once Ray realizes that her protective feelings for her kin have resulted in a shockingly callous attitude toward everyone else.