adminFilm: The Frozen Ground
Cast: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Vanessa Hudgens, Curtis 50 Cent Jackson, Olga Valentina, Dean Norris, Michael McGrady, Brad William Henke, Katherine Le Nara, Jodie O’Keefe, Jeff Bell
Writer & Director: Scott Walker
Cinema: Eastgate
Running time: 110 minutes
Type of film: Murder / mystery
Age restriction: Adults only
Reviwed by Joel White
As an American, my ignorance about one part of America is probably greater than that of most Americans.
Called “The Forty-Eight”ecause of its 48 states for all the years of my youth, it became 49 in 1959 when Alaska became the 49th state. Almost never referred to by its full name: The United States of America.
If you like action, murder, scenery and mystery in a film, run don’t walk to Eastgate and revel in the most remarkable film seen in years, “The Frozen Ground”.
Since truth can be and usually is stranger than fiction, this film has a plot taken word for word from the files of the FBI. Further, the film goer will actually see the photos of the 17 young women whom Bob Hanson (superbly portrayed by John cusack) murdered undetected over a period of 11 years.
Of particular interest is the casting. In the minds of most American movie goers, the actors (Cusack born in Illinois in 1966; Cage born in California in 1964) are virtually indistinguishable. One wonders if they flipped a coin to decide which one would portray the bad guy.
Admitting almost total ignorance ABOUT THIS MOT FAR FLUNG STATE OF America, I was caught totally by surprise by the level of drug use, prostitution and crime which one does not normally associate with an area mostly known for its frigid, uninhabitable climate.
Highly and literally documented, we study the movements of the law enforcement officers when it becomes apparentto them that the man they want for this long series of the most vicious crimes spread over many years is in fact an apparently happily married man with small children.
In the film, the efforts of the police and FBI are stymied by the reluctance of the one victim who survived the efforts of the villain to erase her; refuses to give her full cooperationbecause of the criminal life both she and the majority of her friends lead.
As highly entertaining as it is frightening, this film receives the highest recommendation.
Online Reporter