The Ice Harvest

Are there any other Ice Harvest fans out there? This is one of my personal favorties. John Cusack is dark comic gold as is Billy Bob Thornton. I thought this movie was cold and casual with a shot of noir in the mix. Oliver Platt was wonderful as well. The Ice Harvest is a perfect look at a town drowning in desperation and the links that its inhabitants will go to to escape or embrace it.

Um, no, I found it to be a total frippin' bore.

HERE is my review from last year, which I'll reprint for this thread...




The Ice Harvest (2005 - Harold Ramis)

The Ice Harvest can't decide if it wants to be a comedy or a thriller, settling on neither, at a deadly dull pace. John Cusack stars as a lawyer working for the Mob in Witchita, Kansas. On Christmas Eve he and a partner in crime (Billy Bob Thornton) have just ripped off Cusack's boss for over two million bucks in cash. Before they can get out of town they have to deal with an ice storm impeding travel. That all could have been fodder for either a dark and quirky Coen Brothers type of effort or even something with a tone like Grosse Pointe Blank, or it could have been something truly dark more like Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan or a real old fashioned Noir. Instead Harold Ramis has painted it sort of as a comedy here and there, but inconsistently, and when bodies do start piling up there's no sense of jeopardy or tension. It just plugs along to the inevitable conclusion. And you need not be a huge fan of crime plots to know exactly where every double cross is coming from.

I've always liked John Cusack, and he's fine in the lead, but he's given precious little to play off of, requiring him to be the straight man while nothing much happens. The supporting cast gets even less to do. Billy Bob Thornton can be very interesting on screen, but here he's just kinda there. Connie Nielsen (Gladiator, One-Hour Photo) is asked to stand around and look pretty, and that's precisely all she does. Randy Quaid is essentially only in one scene, and he tries to add some energy and menace to his part, but by the time he gets there it's a lost cause. The only actor who gets to have some fun is Oliver Platt (Funny Bones, The Impostors) as Cusack's drunken friend who he has to tend to on this inconvenient night of larceny. A comic character piece that focused on Cusack and Platt would have had more of a chance of being interesting than this warmed over Neo-Noirish thing with no pop, few laughs and no surprises.

Director Harold Ramis has some good work to his credit (Groundhog Day, National Lampoon's Vacation, Caddyshack) but lately it's all been tepid to awful (Bedazzled, Multiplicity, Analyze That). The Ice Harvest isn't inept or insulting enough to hate, it's just a dull waste of time. Much like the previous pairing of Cusack and Thornton in Pushing Tin (1999 - Mike Newell), this movie is a forgettable disappointment that never lives up to any of its potential.


GRADE: D+

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Interesting how some people will love a movie and others hate it, i haven't seen Ice Harvest but may have a look at it now so i can make up my own mind

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yEAH I still need to see it, but I remember the trailer making me laugh.

No matter how Holden Pike feels about it, The Ice Harvest is a wickedly fun and hysterical picture . You can check out the trailer here.

"In Wichita Falls, The Ice Harvest Falls Flat On It's Back"

In Wichita, Kansas, Charlie has something to celebrate, and it's not Christmas. Charlie, an attorney, and his so called business partner, Vic, have just stolen $2 million from Charlie's boss. With a hit-man looking for them, Charlie and Vic have little time to get out of Wichita. Will they both get out alive, or will the money make them greedy and try to find a way to get more.

The Ice Harvest is a dark comedy, that's heavy on the dark and lite on the comedy. With Billy bob Thorton and John Cusack leading the way, being supported by Oliver Platt and Connie Nielsen and finally the comedy alumni Harold Ramis behind the camera, many would think this to be a recipe for success. It's just too bad that none of the gags work in Harvest and neither does the story.

John Cusack is a good actor and is very likable in the roles he chooses. In the Ice Harvest, he seems a little out of place. Granted, he has the right look, just not the right presence. Teamed up with Billy Bob Thorton, who was good for the role, they bounce off each other awkwardly. With a better chemistry between these two characters, then the actors could have made it work. Oliver Platt is drunk throughout the entire film. He is the comic relief, a guy for the audience to look at and pity but laugh at at the same time. Connie Nielsen plays the character wooden, no emotion. I dreaded the time she was on screen, for every second. Looks can only go so far, here they go nowhere.

Harold Ramis usually has a good funny bone thrown into his films. Here, the dark moody atmosphere is too overshadowing and leaves the comedy in the dark so much that many will miss it. Ramis creates some scenes that do get a laugh, such as which car to place the box into. There is also some nudity, with even though they go into many strip clubs seems odd here. It may just be me, but it is totally useless.

The story itself could use some work. They don't really go into the details of how they got the money, just that they got it. They also have twists and turns that try to surprise the audience, but many can see them coming from a mile away. I myself was able to see it coming once they enter the strip club for the first time. If you're a fan of dark...and I mean dark comedies, then check this one out, but don't expect to laugh too much cause the laughs just aren't there. It is more of a dark crime movie with a couple of odd placed jokes.

Randy Quaid makes a random appearance as Cusacks boss near the finale of the film. The ending of "Harvest" decides to go out with the happy ending, opposed to the dark one, which would have flowed with the rest of the film. Seeing the characters are at the end happy seem wrong here. Then again, this whole film takes so many steps in the wrong direction it hurts.

5/10

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Suspect's Reviews

I agree with Jrs. I thought it was funny in it's own depressing kind of way and actually enjoyed it more the second time I viewed it act. I think the first time, when I saw it in theatres, I was unprepared for the shocking grieving feeling I had for the main characters but that next time around, I expected it and was glad it had played out that way. Not any mind bending twists of course, but nevertheless, it still pleased me.

I think that the reason so many "looking for love in all the wrong places" critics did not like this movie is the reason I love it..subtle, manic and yes depressing...Great movie IMO...8 outta 10

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I haven't seen The Ice Harvest yet but I have seen it's largely mixed reviews, although I still want to see it. A girl I know went to see it in theaters expecting it to be a comedy but told me that it was rather depressing.

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"All the confusion of my life... has been a reflection of myself! Myself as I am, not as I'd like to be." - Guido, 8 1/2

I personally liked Ice Harvest, I thought that it was very entertaining, and had a fun plot. It wasn't one of those movies that I found amazing, but I really like Cusack and Billy Bob Thorton's performances in it. Both in my opinion did a very good job. And while it wasn't a movie that had a shocking twist that could be guessed, it managed to keep a decent plot line together.

It really had its moments but then in the end wasn't that great of a movie..