Emma Thompson and Judy Greer are among the most versatile and capable character actors of their respective generations. You may have notions of them when you hear their names, but they have undeniably built incredible careers on never staying still and always making their next step the polar opposite of their last. So it is quite remarkable that despite their having embodied just about every character you could imagine, it still feels like they are both playing against type in Brian Kirk's Dead of Winter. They play two very different but very real women who cross paths under the most fraught and unexpected of circumstances, and end up in a fight to the death. It may technically be considered an action film (though I'd define it more as a thriller), but don't let this fool you into thinking that Thompson is suddenly getting her turn at the Liam Neeson-style twilight years action hero makeover. What is so enjoyable about her character here is that she is just a regular woman, and when danger arrives, it is her resourcefulness, wisdom, and ordinariness that keep her going.
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