Winter lets Emma Thompson step into action snowshoes

Emma Thompson going all Liam Neeson action hero? Well, not quite but Dead of Winter puts her in the heroic mode as she pits strengths and smarts against a young woman’s kidnappers. Rather than take on a Taken sort of ex-spy, special training expert role, Thompson plays an ordinary person, an older woman grieving over the death of her husband and setting out to the middle of nowhere to spread his ashes in a special spot. Isolation, however, proves a draw for hiding the crime she stumbles upon. From there, the screenplay by Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb finds a series of threatening situations that a setting in fierce Minnesota snow provides. Director Brian Kirk takes advantage of striking white wastelands, though the movie’s strongest point—no surprise—comes from its star. Thompson jumps into the role full force, ignoring fashionista rules in her bulky winter gear, wool cap covering graying hair with no lipstick touches on a pallid face. Though her character knows 4-wheel drive, handguns, and a few outdoor basics, her real power as rescuer comes from a stoic attitude to never give up, one she explains during a moment with the woman she hopes to save. With more than usual dialogue for an action film, plus a series of flashbacks featuring a budding, but standard romance, Dead of Winter plays slowly at times, with a couple of predictable wrenches thrown in to allow for a respectable run time.  Help comes from other cast members like Judy Greer, but ultimately the project’s success rests on the strong shoulders of Emma Thompson.