Frozen (2010)
Starring Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, and Kevin Zegers
Directed by Adam Green
There's a fundamental flaw in the film Frozen that, while I understand why it was done for moviemaking purposes took me completely out of the film and genuinely had me yelling at the tv as I sat watching it. Simply enough, the film revolves around three friends who get stuck on a ski lift when a weekend ski lodge closes down for the weekend. Now, the premise alone is pretty silly, but I was willing to go there with it. That's not the flaw.
Instead, the flaw is this: These folks are wearing heavy winter coats and have hats and gloves...yet they never do a damn thing to protect themselves from frostbite. Zipping up your coat to cover your face? Nah...let's not do that. Pulling your hat down so it covers your whole forehead and maybe your eyes? Nope. Can't do that because then the camera couldn't see us acting. I understand that it's a nearly impossible task for a director to lens a film if he couldn't see his actors mouths or eyes. However, maybe director Adam Green, who also wrote the screenplay, needed to take that into consideration before he put his script to celluloid. Fundamentally, this is a flawed piece for the simple reason that these people stuck on this ski lift are incredibly stupid in that they aren't keeping themselves as warm as possible.
It may seem silly to get so frustrated with this, but this flaw completely ruined the movie for me. It's simply too far-fetched to believe you wouldn't zip up your jacket!
That's not the only problem with this movie. There are essentially only three speaking roles and the actors just aren't up to snuff at times. In fact, the first thirty minutes were painful to sit through. Admittedly, the trio got a little better as the film progressed and the tension rose, but it was a rough go for the first third.
I will say that the director did manage to create suspense. Yes, these characters were idiots for not keeping warm, but there were a couple edge-of-your-seat moments. Still, it's not enough to allow me to look past the major flaw of the screenplay.
I can offer no solution to the director either. It's correct that the film would not have been the least bit interesting with the characters all bundled up. It just comes down to the fact that maybe this film should not have been made.
The RyMickey Rating: D+
I made the wonderful mistake of watching this movie with a group of approximately 8 other people, and by the time it was over I had a headache from all the yelling at the television screen I had endured. I definitely agree with you about the frostbite--it especially bothered me when they would lay they bare faces against the frozen steel poles of the lift. I think I'd give this movie a C+ if only for the reason that it literally made me cringe, and not many movies I've seen lately have accomplished that.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to add that I called the ending about fifteen minutes into the movie. It was pretty impressive, although I have to admit, it probably wasn't too difficult to see how things were going to end.
I just couldn't look past the huge flaw to give it anything close to a passing grade. I will also agree that there were moments where I kinda cringed, but I found myself seconds later incredibly pissed off that they didn't zip up their damn jackets!!!!!
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