In the mid-1990s, Emma Thompson became an A-lister she appeared in many period piece movies mostly made by the Merchant-Ivory filmmakers. She won an Oscar for acting for “Howard’s End” and an Oscar for adapted screenplay for “Sense and Sensibility.”
But it seemed she was already getting typecast. Thankfully Mike Nichols cast her as a Hillary Clinton roman-a-clef in “Primary Colors.” She was able to turn a joke into a good role even though I think the toxic spousal portrayal might have hurt the real Clinton.
But most of the roles seemed to remain the same. She seemed to suffer the same fate as Julie Andrews where she had to spend years trying to break free. It sucks because she was funny on “Cheers” as Frasier’s first wife now a famous children’s entertainment performer. Then there was her role as the brilliant but clumsy scientist in “Junior.” However she wasn’t allowed to break through in “Love Actually” like the rest of the cast, even though the movie isn’t that good.
A few years ago, she played a widowed retired teacher who gets too close to a male prostitute in “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.” Again, it was another one of those “spitspot” roles that played on tropes about sex workers.
This might be why “Dead of Winter” is a nice little thriller that gives Thompson a nice role not what we expect. She plays Barb, an aging widow who has traveled to Lake Hilda frozen solid in northern Minnesota to spread the ashes of her late husband, Karl (Paul Hamilton), in the water. It was where they had their first date.
But a snowstorm has hit the area and she stops at a remote cabin where she sees a man (Marc Menchaca) in a camo jacket and asks for directions. He seems nervous and uneasy and she notices blood in the snow.
Later she observes the man near the lake chasing a young woman, Leah (Laurel Marsden), with
a gun. He kidnaps the young woman taking her back to the cabin and tying her up in the basement. Barb sees this and tries to go get help but her truck is stuck in the snow near the lake and now the man is with a woman (Judy Greer) in a purple overcoat.
And this begins a cat and mouse came in the frozen tundra. Isolated with hardly anyone around for miles, Barb uses her with wit to save Leah. Thompson gives a nice Minnesota accent. It’s a different role as Thompson just plays a regular common woman in the upper Midwest.
It’s not a big movie and definitely one of those “fit for streaming” movies. But it’s still entertaining.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 