chinton
08-17-2008, 07:18 PM
Just saw this film. I was really excited about seeing it as it was the other film aside from Wackness to win big at Sundance as far accolades goes. I was hoping for something good and I was really impressed.
The plot itself is pretty simple and is not something you've never seen before in an indie film. Melissa Leo plays struggling Ray in what I guess is the wiles between the outskirts of New York and Quebec. She is in dire straights financially and after a run with a Mohawk Native American who has occasionally done smuggling of people across the border Ray decides to take on the illegal activity but only long enough to get back where she can survive. Of course things don't go as planned.
When talking about this film first things first one has to mention the fantastic lead performances by the two woman. Both Melissa and Misty Upman (who plays her Native American partner) are excellent. They don't overplay the roles or do anything except act completely naturally. It's easy to miss these performances because they are so low key but at no point did ever think of them as anything else but the characters.
The screenplay much like the performances is really well done in a pared down away. There really isn't any extra fat to this film. Its driven and well-plotted with believable dialogue. I also thought the information the film contained about the relationship between the regular cops (border patrol) and tribe police was fascinating. Its never really there to take over the story but the movie does present a solid portrait of two societies (reservation and non reservation).
The location also does a lot to add to the feel of the film. It reminded of Transberrian where it tackled an area we don't usually see in films. Frozen River does a nice job of incorporating the bleak landscape into being another character.
Anyway its a really fine well done film and my other favorite indie film of the summer next to Baghead.
9/10
The plot itself is pretty simple and is not something you've never seen before in an indie film. Melissa Leo plays struggling Ray in what I guess is the wiles between the outskirts of New York and Quebec. She is in dire straights financially and after a run with a Mohawk Native American who has occasionally done smuggling of people across the border Ray decides to take on the illegal activity but only long enough to get back where she can survive. Of course things don't go as planned.
When talking about this film first things first one has to mention the fantastic lead performances by the two woman. Both Melissa and Misty Upman (who plays her Native American partner) are excellent. They don't overplay the roles or do anything except act completely naturally. It's easy to miss these performances because they are so low key but at no point did ever think of them as anything else but the characters.
The screenplay much like the performances is really well done in a pared down away. There really isn't any extra fat to this film. Its driven and well-plotted with believable dialogue. I also thought the information the film contained about the relationship between the regular cops (border patrol) and tribe police was fascinating. Its never really there to take over the story but the movie does present a solid portrait of two societies (reservation and non reservation).
The location also does a lot to add to the feel of the film. It reminded of Transberrian where it tackled an area we don't usually see in films. Frozen River does a nice job of incorporating the bleak landscape into being another character.
Anyway its a really fine well done film and my other favorite indie film of the summer next to Baghead.
9/10