Frankie and Alice: The Review

Frankie and Alice is a Canadian drama film, directed by Geoffrey Sax, and loosely based on a true story.  This film was originally released in in the United States for a limited run in December 2010; the film was re-released on April 4, 2014. Halle Berry plays the lead role of Frankie. Frankie is a black woman with dissociative identity disorder, caused by a traumatic incident from her childhood, which she has repressed. She has two alters: Genius, a seven-year-old child with an IQ of 156 and Alice, a Southern white racist woman, whom Frankie struggles to overcome.

In the opening frames of this story, we learn that Frankie earns her living as a go-go dancer. After her performance at the night club, Frankie decides to leave with a gentleman that works with her at the club. Once the two reach his apartment, Frankie has her first black out. In fear for her life, she adversely injures the man. Consequently, she is arrested and is also fired from her job.  In order to have the charges dropped, she is diagnosed with dissociative identity order and placed under the care of Dr. Oz, a psychiatrist, who seeks to find the source of her disorder.

During the course of this narrative, Frankie has frequent black outs and bursts of odd behavior, which are associated to these two alternate personalities of Genius and Alice. While Halle Berry does an exceptional job of bring life to these characters, the storyline of the film is ultimately a wash. Geoffrey Sax fails to bring the drama to the overall premise.

Frozen

Frozen is a Disney movie that came out in December of 2013. Directed by Chris Beck and Jennifer Lee, create a tale that not only centers around one character, but multiple characters, something that is out of the box for Disney. The story begins with men cutting ice and singing a song titled "Frozen Heart," an apt foreshadowing of the rest of the movie. We then see the two main characters, Elsa and Anna, as children, and we also see that Elsa has the power to create snow and ice. Elsa accidentally hits Anna in the head with her powers, Anna passes out, and this begins the decline of the characters in the story. Elsa is shut in her room, Anna basically loses her sister, and the parents of the two try to comfort both while keeping them safe. 

I enjoyed this movie because it has equal amounts of the traditional mixed with the contemporary. Anna supposedly meets the love of her life in one night and wishes to marry him, but Elsa does not give her consent. This is a contemporary notion for Disney because their princesses usually find Mr. Right within a few hours, and the movie ends with a beautiful wedding scene and 'happily ever after.' In contrast, there isn't one wedding scene in Frozen. In fact, the love story of Anna and Kristoff is more of a sub-plot in the film than a main plot. The writers instead focus more on the nuances of familial relationships, most notably between Anna and Elsa. They develop this relationship from the beginning, and they give it a satisfying ending by Anna saving Elsa, who, for all intents and purposes, was the main villain of the story. Another contemporary idea they put into the film is the reality of multiple villains instead of just one. Elsa was a villain, although she turned out to be a savior of sorts, but there was also Hans and the Duke of Weselton with his dark-browed thugs. This movie shows that you don't only have to worry about one person being evil, but that all people are capable of having evil in themselves, which is a thought based in reality and not fairy tales.

Of course, the movie wouldn't be a Disney movie if it didn't have comedic relief. While all the characters have funny scenes, the actual comedy comes from a character named Olaf, a snowman that does not realize snow and heat do not mix. Olaf also offers a connection between Elsa and Anna, not only in their past, but also in their present and future. Olaf distinguishes Elsa as a good character because he shows that Elsa can create good from her powers, even when she drowns Arendelle in ten feet of snow. Disney offers the love story that the audience always craves, between Kristoff and Anna. They also offer the animals with human personalities. Anna proves herself to be a true Disney Princess, but Elsa does as well, and a more realistic one at that, because she has the power to be good and evil, whereas Anna stays good throughout.

 Overall, the movie hits all the right notes and becomes an instant hit. It is heartwarming and can be enjoyed by the whole family, not just the children.The movie has stunning images and quality, and the songs are beautifully written and beautifully sung by the characters voice-overs: Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, and Jonathan Groff to name a few. The songs were amazing. "In Summer," sung by Josh Gad as Olaf, is my personal favorite. This film comes highly recommended, and, as it's made over 1 billion dollars, I'm sure many would agree. 

                                                               --Skyler