The Frozen Ground review

John Cusack and Nicolas Cage tread carefully

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“I’m the wrong guy to be getting in the middle of this,” huffs Nicolas Cage’s archetypal cusp-of-retirement cop in this chilly thriller. “It’s my last two weeks.”

That’s not the last time debut writer/director Scott Walker falls back on reliable crime-flick clichés; his moody real-lifer also dealing in prostitutes with golden hearts (Vanessa Hudgens) and killers with a penchant for stuffed animals.

Cage is also having an off-day, chasing after John Cusack’s lady-killer with all the urgency of a sleepy warthog.

Still, it’s handsomely lensed, and when Cage and Cusack finally go nose-to- nose, the fur does fly.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.