“Frozen River” (2008)
I reserved Frozen River from my library months ago, along with Man on Wire and they came in at the same time. Interestingly, that documentary is about something so fantastic that this film seemed more real to me by comparison.
Melissa Leo is a mom of 2 boys in northern New York, struggling to make the down payment for the double wide of her dreams when her husband runs off with the money and gambles it away. He’s a Native American, and in looking for him on the reservation, she learns about a lucrative black market in transporting immigrants.
I was astonished by Leo’s performance, by turns raw, sad, despairing and hopeful. Often bleak, but not without hope, I thought the movie was very well done.