Frozen River
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: August 1, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatDon R. Lewis
It's tough and cold and gives an inside look at poverty in America. Yet the film is also incredibly compelling and intense and I can't think of another film that's this small and powerful. Read full review
100
TimeRichard Schickel
In the end, you feel that Frozen River gives about as truthful a picture of American bleakness as it's possible for a movie to present. It is a movie that asks something of an audience, but it richly rewards our curiously rapt attention. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
As the summer heats up, let Frozen River wash over you; let its bracing drama and the intensity of its acting restore your spirits as well as your faith in American independent film. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Sometimes two performances come along that are so perfectly matched that no overt signals are needed to show how the characters feel about each other. That's what happens between Melissa Leo and Misty Upham in Frozen River. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
There is nothing sentimental or picturesque about the performances or imagery. The word that best describes both is elemental. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A tale of ordinary Americans scraping bottom, yet there's a redemption in that. The film asks: If you were this desperate, wouldn't you do the same? Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
This is a debut feature, though you'd never know it from the filmmaker's commandingly confident style, or from the heartbreaking beauty -- heartbreaking, then heartmending -- of Melissa Leo's performance as a poor single mother who's living her whole life on thin ice. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Ms. Hunt's eye for detail has the precision of a short story writer's. She misses nothing. Read full review
90
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Made with uncommon skill and assurance, the film never succumbs to rank sentimentality, but it manages to get at the nuances of human relationships. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
A Sundance hit that is both absorbing and bleak, Frozen River is anchored by powerful performances, believable scenarios and excellent writing. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Strikingly authentic, socially conscious crime drama. Read full review
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
There is no shortage of indie movies about economically challenged women. This one is different, in that the women actually do something besides just talk about it. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneTasha Robinson
Possibly one of the biggest reasons Frozen River stands out among bad-decision movies is that Ray never really tries to justify her actions. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Does what too many independent American movies only pretend to do: Takes you to an unnoticed corner of our country and shows what it's like to actually live there. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Melissa Leo is startlingly good...You feel like you're watching a life, not a performance. Read full review
80
Village VoiceElla Taylor
If there's one thing this movie gets dead right, it's the desperation of impoverished single mothers trying to fend for their children. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Frozen River isn't cinematically ambitious or formally adventurous, but it's built around powerful and nuanced performances by Leo, Upham and Charlie McDermott. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
A first-rate thriller, maintaining a high level of suspense. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie Errigo
Original, sad, suspenseful and involving: the kind of work that helps independent American cinema retain its good name. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Frozen River skates matter-of-factly on thin ice. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
If the role brings her more recognition and work, all the better, but Leo certainly isn't lobbying for it. She doesn't show off. She just does what she's always done: Reveals a character for who she is, nothing more, nothing less. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
Most films about illegal immigration are set on the Mexican border, and Frozen River is free of the stereotypical characters and situations of that familiar setting. It also offers a rare look at modern Native American life, exploring the ambiguity of what it means to say that the laws of the white man cannot be enforced on Indian territory. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's not a happy film, but it feels true. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
The film's greatest achievement is that it allows us to know Ray. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Melissa Leo is one of America's most underrated character actresses, and Frozen River confirms that opinion. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
A solid, satisfying movie. Read full review
70
VarietyRobert Koehler
No trendsetter or breakthrough, this is more than anything else a welcome chance for the fine actor Melissa Leo to finally dominate a film in a terrific and affecting lead role. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
All in all, Frozen River is gripping stuff. Except it's also rigged and cheaply manipulative. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
If we're going to be honest, we need to look inside and ask ourselves: Do we really want to see a listless movie about a woman whose dream is to move into a double-wide trailer? Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Has moments of honesty, but more often the barren landscape - both outside and inside - drains the emotions out of the film. Read full review
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