Review of The Frozen Ground (2013) by Spangle — 04 Jan 2017

In the 21st century, John Cusack and Nicolas Cage do not purposefully make a good film. Instead, they accidentally stumble onto a set where people are making a good film. The Frozen Ground is not necessarily a good film, but it is an okay one. Telling the real story about the hunt for brutal serial killer Robert Hansen (Cusack), the film fits him against John Halcombe (Cage), the cop who tracked him down. A pretty straight forward police procedural movie, The Frozen Ground is a largely entertaining and compelling film that is just too cliche and lacking in mystery to be a truly good film.

With Cage and Cusack both turning in good performances, this straight-to-DVD release is off to a good start already. Cage is largely a normal person here with a wife who gets two scenes and is a hard nosed cop who loves his job and family. Typical, but Cage does well. He is a great actor and this material is still beneath him, but it is closer than his traditional fare. Cusack, meanwhile, plays a well adjusted psycho. Seen as a normal guy with a Christian wife and two kids, Hansen is a regular guy except when he looks for oral sex. At this point, he is a monster and hungry for hunting prostitutes. Cusack plays this difference incredibly well, using a largely cool and icy demeanor in both. He seems to be going through the motions and is only in his element when killing somebody. Cusack, in the violent moments, keeps this icy demeanor but has a subtle twisted and dark element added that clues you into just how demented of a person Robert Hansen was.

However, The Frozen Ground is largely unchallenging. Halcombe protects a young prostitute and victim of Hansen, Cindy Paulson (Vanessa Hudgens), with cliched scenes involving her pimp (50 Cent) and a strip club. These moments add nothing to the film other than an excuse to hire girls with large breasts to appear nude briefly in the film. Otherwise, nothing is added to the film, even including a scene where Cindy sees Robert in the club. Maybe it was a real scenario, but of course he is scared of him and that is the only thing the scene communicates. The case is largely compelling, however, and scenes of Cage and Sgt. Lyle Haugsven (Dean Norris) tracking Hansen. With clues and close calls along the way, the film is largely engaging in these moments. Sure, it is stereotypical, but as somebody who mildly enjoys films of this type, it does work.

What does not work, however, is the camera. Director Scott Walker channels that scene of Liam Neeson jumping over a fence in Taken 3 during any scene with a degree of chaos. This includes the beginning and it made me want to question my decision to watch the film at all. Good directors do not need to use nearly as many cuts in quick succession as Walker does, leading me to conclude that the average status of the film is likely a fluke.

With a largely compelling true story to tell, The Frozen Ground is a cold and icy film about a cold and icy man. While largely feeling like an episode of Forensic Files or Deadline, the film is pretty engaging due to very good performances from Nicolas Cage and John Cusack. Honestly, they must have been so appalled by the fact that the film turned out okay they had to fire their agents. How could they not give a horrible script instead? Compared to their usual films, The Frozen Ground is like an Oscar winner. Compared to other films, however, it is merely a run-of-the-mill true crime story that has good acting and follows the cliches closely enough to become passable entertainment.