FROZEN RIVER *****

There are many reason I love going to the theatre(even if it is alone) and many more reason's I love writting movie reviews. Frozen River was my cinematic reasurrance that I hope to make a career out of this one day.

Just the title alone gets you all cold and frostbit inside. The journy you take with Melissa Leo as Ray Eddy, a trailer trash mom trying to support her two sons is powerful. Ray works at the local Dollar store with hopes of saving enough money to buy a new doublewide after her husband mysteriously leaves one day. Struggling to get hours at work, Ray is unexpectedly lured into illegal imigrant smuggling.

Frozen River is set in upstate New York, just across the river from Ontario. Ray meets a Mohawk girl named Lila who lives on a reservation after the girl tries stealing her car. Remember Ray is not your ordinary mom, she's been through hell and plans not to leave until she gets her new trailer. Lila introduces Ray to smuggling and informs her it's illegal, but ok if it's done on the reservation. Well not ok, but ok enough where the reprecusions are undoable.

Lila is also a single mother, trying to get her son back and both women are crossing the frozen river each time knowing the dangers of the circumstances but overshadowed by the future of their children. The women continue to smuggle chinesse imigrants accross the river holding their breath after each exchange.

This movie may not hit your heart strings like it did me. Not because my mom was a smuggler or becuase she worked at the Dollar Store, but because anyone who has experienced unconditional love by their parents will understand the extremes they take to protect and provide for us. Even the economic undertones are well presented and the location is ideal and simplistic.

I don't want to exclude the subplot of Ray's eldest son Charlie and his younger oblivious brother Ricky. With dad no longer in the picture, Charlie takes many steps to assure his mom he can handle the responsibilities of an adult. There is a touching scene on Christmas Eve involving a much needed Christmas gift for Ricky, that will melt your heart. These boys are the icing on the top of the frozen river.

Courtney Hunt makes her directorial debut with Frozen River and I wish movies like this got more mass appeal. Winner of the Sundance Jury Award for Dramatic Film, I hope you will take this journey, showcasing that the social relationships between two different starngers holds no preconseptions culturally.

ON DVD FEBRUARY 10th