Wednesday, February 26, 2014

FREEZER: NOT A MOVIE ABOUT THE BLIZZARD OF 2014

With the terrible temperatures we've been having this winter of 2014 my guess is most people would be hard pressed to rent or purchase a movie with a title like FREEZER. I'm hoping that isn't the case because this movie deserves to be seen. It's a tense thriller that keeps you guessing until the very end.

Dylan McDermott is Robert, a young man who wakes to find himself in a walk in freezer with his wrists and ankles strapped and no idea what is going on. Eventually two Russian mobsters come in and start asking him questions. Unhappy with his replies Robert turns into a punching bag for a while. It boils down to something they want, $8 million that they say he has and that they want back. Telling them he has no idea what they're talking about, that he was at a restaurant and went to use the bathroom only to wake here they leave him to consider what they want with the promise that they'll be back.

Robert frees himself from his bonds and begins to try and find a way out. The door is locked and the vent in the ceiling too small for him to fit through. The mobsters go back and forth, trying to convince him to give them the money. The second time they enter they bring along Alisa (Yuliya Snigir) and threaten her as well. Without the information or money they seek, Robert still can't help them.

The mobsters leave once more and Robert is soon startled to find someone else with him in the freezer, Sam Gurov (Peter Facinelli), the man the mobsters were looking for. It seems that Sam is an undercover policeman who infiltrated the Russian mob. Shot in a gun battle with the mobsters, he's severely wounded and in need of attention. He lets Robert know that the woman isn't another hostage but the girlfriend of the head mobster's son. The next time they mobsters return they soon discover Sam and deal with him.

With each visit the mobsters turn down the temperature in the freezer. With seemingly no way out it is up to Robert to use his brains to find any chance at all to survive. Having nothing to offer them he must take his chances with each visit. It's a struggle to survive not just the psychological and physical damage that they do to him each visit but to also survive the freezing temperatures as well. With the recent cold spell here in the Midwest sympathizing with his character became quite easy.

The movie may seem fairly straight forward but to say that all is not as it seems would be oversimplifying things. The best thing is that the twists and turns the movie takes come from out of left field so far that my guess is you won't see them coming. I know I didn't. For me that makes a more enjoyable film, one not so predictable that it becomes boring. Not only that but to tell this story in such a singular place as a freezer makes it even more of a treat since the film relies more on story telling and great performances to hold your interests. It does that from start to finish. This is a movie not to be missed and one that I think I'll hold on to. Who knows, maybe some sweltering day in the summer it will be one to bring out and remind me why it was I didn't enjoy winter.

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