MOVIE: The Frozen Ground
STARRING: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Vanessa Hudgens, 50 Cent, Radha Mitchel, Dean Norris, Gia Mantegna, Olga Valentian
RELEASE DATE: August 23rd, 2013
WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Roku, Vudu)
By Justin Pomerville (2 Broke Geeks)
Sgt. Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) in The Frozen Ground.
I have never really fallen for films that start with the “based on a true story”. Most of the time, they do have some merit, but for obvious reasons, to make it entertaining for the audience, certain aspects will be embellished. Obviously, names, places, and events will be changed in certain cases in order to protect people, and I understand that. But, I still don’t put 100% face value beyond these films and how much they decide to change or enhance.
The Frozen Ground is based on the crimes of real-life serial killer Robert Hansen. Detective Jack Halcombe (played by Cage) discovers the body of a young woman buried in the Alaskan wilderness, which leads him to a string of similar murders linked to Robert Hansen (played by John Cusack). However, due to lack of evidence, nothing ever stuck to convict until a young girl named Cindy (played by Vanessa Hudgens) escaped Hansen’s grasp. She provides Halcombe with the means to reopen the cases and go after Hansen again.
Sgt. Lyle Haugsven (Dean Norris) and Sgt. Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) in The Frozen Ground.
The film itself is fine. Cage, Hudgens, and Cusack pull out really good performances for a film that is overall, fine. I don’t know how much of this film is true, but while looking up the events, it seems the majority may be. So, in reviewing this film, I honestly don’t want to give too much praise to a serial killer. So, going to keep this short and sweet by saying that this film will land smack dab in the middle of “OK” on the Nic Gauge.
