Daily Plastic: Frozen River

Movie	Our Take	Other Takes
Frozen River Trailer . IMDB	Hunt might have made a more organic and insightful film if she'd used the story's dangers as the silent underpinnings for the relationship. Instead, those elements swell into the foreground and take symbolic shapes that ring false at every turn. Robert Davis Paste Magazine	Such is Hunt's lack of storytelling assurance that she doesn't allow the desperation of Ricky (James Reilly) and T.J. (Charlie McDermott) trying to scarf down a bowl of popcorn and down a glass of Tang for breakfast to speak for itself, having Ray actually say that that's the only food she can afford to give her sons. It's writing for the visually impaired. Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine Hunt builds a lot of tension in the film's final half-hour, and emerges with something that's about on the level of really good TV — which makes Leo the perfect actress to anchor it. Noel Murray Onion AV Club (Sundance Blog) The movie, though, belongs to Leo, a thesp of considerable flinty character and honesty who brings all of her reserves to bear on a big, complex role. Unafraid to show herself weathered by the cold, harsh elements and never working to make auds love her, Leo builds the kind of perf that invites concentration, and then high respect. Robert Koehler Variety [S]omething feels off between the media reaction to Leo's on-screen appearance and the film's treatment of her character. Critics and journalists reaffirm conventional standards of prettiness by so vividly illustrating Leo's evident nonconformity with them.... Even at its most irritating, however, Frozen River never flies too far off the deep end, thanks to Leo's sterling work. Matt Connolly Reverse Shot

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