The Frozen Ground - film review
Once upon a time, Vanessa Hudgens did not do graphic thrillers. But the actress is clearly desperate to slough off her slick, High School Musical skin. Fresh from the riotous Spring Breakers, she appears, here, as a skanky, coke-snorting teen prostitute. You imagine her flicking through scripts and drawling: “Do they need me to shake my naked butt at the camera? They do? Well, dammit, count me in!”
Actually, she's pretty good as the troubled Cindy – a scratchy mix of Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass and Jane Fonda in Klute. Which makes it even more maddening that the script is so generic. First time writer/director Scott Walker claims the whole thing is based on conversations he had with the real life woman who, as a teenager, helped police capture Alaskan serial killer, Robert Hansen. You can't hear her voice. Sentimental and prurient, Frozen Ground wastes Nic Cage (as the good state-trooper who'll do anything to nail his guy) and John Cusack (as bad Bob). Only the final reel – which shows photos of the victims, many of whose bodies are still unfound – makes you look twice, three times, and gulp.
