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Frozen River
Sony Pictures Classics

Frozen River reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 82 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.5 out of 10
based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 12 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for some language

Starring Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Michael O'Keefe, Charlie McDermott, and Mark Boone Jr.

Frozen River is the story of Ray Eddy, an upstate New York trailer mom who is lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling when she meets a Mohawk girl who lives on a reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border. Broke after her husband takes off with the down payment for their new doublewide, Ray reluctantly teams up with Lila, a smuggler, and the two begin making runs across the frozen St. Lawrence River carrying illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants in the trunk of Ray’s Dodge Spirit. (Sony Pictures Classics)


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Courtney Hunt  
DIRECTED BY: Courtney Hunt  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: August 1, 2008 
RUNNING TIME: 97 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
Film Threat Don R. Lewis
It's tough and cold and gives an inside look at poverty in America. Yet the film is also incredibly compelling and intense and I can't think of another film that's this small and powerful.
Read Full Review
100
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
As the summer heats up, let Frozen River wash over you; let its bracing drama and the intensity of its acting restore your spirits as well as your faith in American independent film.
Read Full Review
100
Time Richard Schickel
In the end, you feel that Frozen River gives about as truthful a picture of American bleakness as it's possible for a movie to present. It is a movie that asks something of an audience, but it richly rewards our curiously rapt attention.
Read Full Review
100
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Sometimes two performances come along that are so perfectly matched that no overt signals are needed to show how the characters feel about each other. That's what happens between Melissa Leo and Misty Upham in Frozen River.
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100
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
There is nothing sentimental or picturesque about the performances or imagery. The word that best describes both is elemental.
Read Full Review
91
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
A tale of ordinary Americans scraping bottom, yet there's a redemption in that. The film asks: If you were this desperate, wouldn't you do the same?
Read Full Review
90
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
This is a debut feature, though you'd never know it from the filmmaker's commandingly confident style, or from the heartbreaking beauty -- heartbreaking, then heartmending -- of Melissa Leo's performance as a poor single mother who's living her whole life on thin ice.
Read Full Review
90
The New York Times Stephen Holden
Ms. Hunt's eye for detail has the precision of a short story writer's. She misses nothing.
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90
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Made with uncommon skill and assurance, the film never succumbs to rank sentimentality, but it manages to get at the nuances of human relationships.
Read Full Review
88
Boston Globe Ty Burr
Does what too many independent American movies only pretend to do: Takes you to an unnoticed corner of our country and shows what it's like to actually live there.
Read Full Review
88
USA Today Claudia Puig
A Sundance hit that is both absorbing and bleak, Frozen River is anchored by powerful performances, believable scenarios and excellent writing.
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88
Chicago Tribune Tasha Robinson
Possibly one of the biggest reasons Frozen River stands out among bad-decision movies is that Ray never really tries to justify her actions.
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88
TV Guide Ken Fox
Strikingly authentic, socially conscious crime drama.
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88
New York Post Lou Lumenick
There is no shortage of indie movies about economically challenged women. This one is different, in that the women actually do something besides just talk about it.
Read Full Review
83
Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Melissa Leo is startlingly good...You feel like you're watching a life, not a performance.
Read Full Review
80
Village Voice Ella Taylor
If there's one thing this movie gets dead right, it's the desperation of impoverished single mothers trying to fend for their children.
Read Full Review
80
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Frozen River isn't cinematically ambitious or formally adventurous, but it's built around powerful and nuanced performances by Leo, Upham and Charlie McDermott.
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80
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
A first-rate thriller, maintaining a high level of suspense.
Read Full Review
78
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Frozen River skates matter-of-factly on thin ice.
Read Full Review
75
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
A solid, satisfying movie.
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75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
The film's greatest achievement is that it allows us to know Ray.
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75
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Melissa Leo is one of America's most underrated character actresses, and Frozen River confirms that opinion.
Read Full Review
75
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's not a happy film, but it feels true.
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75
The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
If the role brings her more recognition and work, all the better, but Leo certainly isn't lobbying for it. She doesn't show off. She just does what she's always done: Reveals a character for who she is, nothing more, nothing less.
Read Full Review
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White
Most films about illegal immigration are set on the Mexican border, and Frozen River is free of the stereotypical characters and situations of that familiar setting. It also offers a rare look at modern Native American life, exploring the ambiguity of what it means to say that the laws of the white man cannot be enforced on Indian territory.
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70
Variety Robert Koehler
No trendsetter or breakthrough, this is more than anything else a welcome chance for the fine actor Melissa Leo to finally dominate a film in a terrific and affecting lead role.
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70
New York Magazine David Edelstein
All in all, Frozen River is gripping stuff. Except it's also rigged and cheaply manipulative.
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50
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
If we're going to be honest, we need to look inside and ask ourselves: Do we really want to see a listless movie about a woman whose dream is to move into a double-wide trailer?
Read Full Review
40
New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
Has moments of honesty, but more often the barren landscape - both outside and inside - drains the emotions out of the film.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Discuss this movie in our forums

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