who's afraid of Thora Birch?
This thoroughly mediocre movie was a lot less fun than I thought it
would be, and it left me with a bad aftertaste. Telling the unbelievable but apparently true story of a Black Widow/Lolita (Thora Birch) who seduces men, then murders them for their insurance money, it played like a bush-league rip-off of "Fargo." "Winter of Frozen Dreams" is memorable, if at all, for Keith Carradine's eccentric detective, a cross between Columbo and McCloud, and for Thora Birch's performance. The former child star and indie princess of such films as "American Beauty" and "Ghost World" has blossomed into a woman of devastating beauty, sensuality, and intelligence, and she dominated every frame she was in. Her character, Barbara Hoffmann, still languishes in prison serving a life sentence for murder. She supposedly had an IQ of 145--genius level--but you couldn't tell from this movie. All the characters seemed pretty stupid, her included. The film left some doubt as to her guilt. Was the aging detective just looking to make one spectacular bust before riding off into the sunset? That was just one of many questions this provocative but ultimately unsatisfying film left unanswered.. a B movie thats better than many so called major films,
This is not a major film by any means. It is a good, well made & acted
minor thriller, that deserved a better release & treatment from the critics & distributors. It only played in one theatre for only one week this past April. With some decent advertising & proper promotion it would have done much better. The story is based on a real life murder case in Madison Wisconsin the 1970', & it does have the feel to it. Thora Burch is the main character & she proves to be quite good in a hard to do role. Newcomer Brendon Sexton 111 is fine as the young man involved. Veteran star Keith Carrqdine is the chief police investigator & as usual he delivers. There are no car chases or explosion, next to no nudity or bad language.It is not a film for children & that is the only reason for its R rating. At times its a wee bit hard to follow, but stay with it, as It fast moving. Rent this, I am sure you will agree with me. Ratings: *** (out of 4) 86 points (out of 100) IMDb 8 (out of 10). |
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