Frozen River

6. Frozen River
Melissa Leo hasn't really done much worth noting, not for lack of talent, though. To be honest, she doesn't have the conventional beauty for most of the parts being offered to your Cameron Diaz's or Julia Roberts'. She doesn't possess the kind of sexuality that a leading lady does. In fact, her role in Frozen River is aptly comparable to Julia Roberts' role in Erin Brockovich. Leo's character, Ray, is a kind of anti-Erin-Brockovich. Instead of relying and sometimes exploiting her good looks, Ray relies on her wits and the urgency of the moment. She turns to what she sees as a victimless crime, a lucrative proposition in which she helps smuggle people over a fuzzy, unprotected border on a Mohawk reservation. Since the border between Canada and the US runs through Mohawk territory, it is unmonitered by authorities. Seeing a better opportunity than her job at the Yankee Dollar to get the double-wide that she needs to raise her family, she and a Mohawk woman smuggle people over the border. Courtney Hunt's terrific script is both subtle and unfettered by the cautious eye of a studio head. She pulls no punches and, through her deft direction, pulls a performance out of Leo that is more haunting than it is memorable.
Grade: B+

Next Entry: Wednesday