When, as stated at the end of the film, he dedicated ‘Frozen Truth’ to all known and unknown victims of the main antagonist, the director could have made a much better work. Based on true events, this typical crime story about a persistent police officer hunting a serial killer can easily serve as a catalog of the already seen and an example of the director’s complete disinterest in avoiding it.
To be fair, he is not the only one who fell short: Cage is unbearably predictable, perhaps even to himself, to the extent that he can no longer convincingly shout; Cusack is a completely wrong choice for the antagonist. The story of, of course, a respected community member who, in his spare time, kidnaps, rapes, and murders prostitutes, and does so unimpeded for about 13 years, somewhat manages to highlight only the somewhat unusual atmosphere of the ice-bound Anchorage in Alaska and its reasonably well-drawn ‘underground’ scene of prostitutes and pimps.
Considering that this city, the entire peninsula actually, has the status of an endlessly boring and tame place at the end of the world, the setting automatically offers a more interesting backdrop. However, neither did the director know how to utilize this sufficiently nor would it ultimately help the film. Late-night television material.
Directed by: Scott Walker
Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack
The Frozen Ground, 2013.
