The Frozen Ground (2013)
Certified: 15
Duration: 105 minutes
Directed by: Scott Walker
Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Vanessa Hudgens, 50 Cent, Radha Mitchell, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Dean Norris, Katherine LaNasa, Matt Gerald
KRS release
The picture is based on the true story of serial killer Robert Hansen, who in the span of three years in the 1980s, is said to have killed between 17 and 21 women. Hansen is currently in prison in Alaska serving a 461-year sentence.
Nicolas Cage is Sgt Jack Holcombe whose latest assignment will affect his life and that of his wife (Radha Mitchell).
Wild animals have dug up the body of a young woman buried in Alaska. This is the latest in a chain of corpses found in the area and Jack believes that these murders are linked. Meanwhile, the police have just finished talking to Cindy Paulson (Vanessa Hudgens), who is accusing a local man, named Robert Hansen (John Cusack), of rape, torture and abduction. She has managed to escape but no one would believe her story: Hansen is respectable while she is a young girl with a very bad reputation.
Jack believes otherwise. The girls found were all part of the local red light scene, but there are other missing girls whose bodies have not yet been found.
Cindy is not the most reliable of witnesses while Hansen starts to make his own tracks in order to tie off loose ends.
Cage finally delivers a show-stopping performance. His recent financial woes led him to take on quite mediocre roles, a far cry from his roles in Wild at Heart (1990), Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Face/Off (1997), Adaptation (2002) and Matchstick Men (2003).
The Frozen Ground is a tour de force for the actor and despite sticking to the genre’s rules, Cage’s acting elevates the film above its station.
He plays an average sort of guy that takes on his shoulders the weight of all the missing and dead girls. But it’s when he plays a normal Joe that he stands out, rather than when he plays over-the-top characters.
Getting underneath the skin of such a killer and depicting his crimes may not make for easy viewing
Meanwhile, Cusack continues to shed his good-boy tag with a performance that is meant to creep his fans out. Hudgens is slowly but surely emerging from under the Disney umbrella as the former High School Musical girl delivers a lurid performance, while 50 Cent, who is also producing, is perfect as a pimp.
Scott Walker’s direction is taut and keeps the audience’s attention throughout the film’s duration.
Getting underneath the skin of such a killer and depicting his crimes may not make for easy viewing.
But the film succeeds mostly because it somberly delivers a harrowing take, which is even more effective when one knows that the events portrayed really happened.