Monkey Movie Review

You know any movie that starts out with the main character sitting on a bed while crying is not going to end well. And that's extremely true in the case of Frozen River.


The film tells the story of two women who meet by chance and who try to over come obstacles in their lives by smuggling undocumented aliens into the USA. Melissa Leo's character is trying to overcome having a shitty dead end job that pays nothing, a degenerate gambler husband who took their down payment on a double wide and ran off to gamble it away, and the raising of two young sons in a hostile environment. Misty Upham's character is trying to overcome getting her infant son taken from her after her husband died in less than savory circumstances, a stultifying life in the Mohawk reservation, and a serious lack of employment. Leo is pulled into the sleazy world of human smuggling because she sees it as a way to make back the money her husband stole and Upham is in it to make money to get her son back.

I'm not going to say much more about that plot but I will say that there is a dark cloud hanging over everyone in this film. You know from the first scene that bad things are on the way and when they start happening you want to hang your head and sigh. But some of the bad things lead to good things and it's not all bleak and shitty for everyone in the film in the end.

I identified 1000 % with Leo's character and the characters of her sons. Even though I have never lived in upstate NY near an Indian reservation near the Canadian border, I know these people. Hell, I was one of those people. Poor white trash is poor white trash no matter if it's in Jonesville, VA, a little town in Idaho, or a trailer park in a frozen part of upstate New York. I know just what her kid's in the movie were up against and I have a damn good working knowledge of what most of Leo's character was going through in this film.

Ms. Leo was rightly nominated for an Academy Award for this film but she had the misfortune of being up against Kate Winslet the year the Academy decided to award her for her body of work. Leo is fantastic in this movie and she never hit a false note. You can see every heartache and bad moment of her character's life on her face and body in the movie and it really was, and I really hate to use this word but there is no other that will do, a brave performance.

Misty Upham's laconic performance is also very good. She says so much by saying very little and when she does talk she conveys a sense of frustration and urgency all at once.

One of the best characters in the film is one you never see, that of Leo's husband. He casts a pall over the whole film and at times even though you never see him it's like he's right there in the frame sucking the energy and positivity from Leo and her two sons.

I hope I didn't make this film sound like too much of a downer because you need to see this movie. It's a slice of life that is at time vividly real. Yes, at times it tragic but at others it's almost sweet. It's a lot like life in that regard. I highly recommend it.