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The Ice Storm
Nuanced direction and some superb performances from an excellent ensemble cast make 1997's The Ice Storm, a moody and prickly story of suburban dysfunction and the changing sexual mores of the 1970 worth watching.
The setting is 1973 New Canan, Connecticut, a small suburban town where we meet several different characters who are connected in various ways as several secrets about these people quietly simmer to the surface: Ben Hood (Oscar winner Kevin Kline) and his wife, Elena (Joan Allen) seem to be accepting the death of their marriage, which manifests itself in Ben's affair with neighbor Janey Carver (Sigourney Weaver), who is not only married to Jim (Jamey Sheridan), but cheating on Ben with young Neil Conrad (Glenn Fitzgerald). Ben and Elena's young daughter, Wendy (Christina Ricci) is experimenting sexually with the Carvers' son, Mike (Elijah Wood) and his brother, Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd),while Ben and Elena's son, Paul (Tobey Maguire) finds himself in a compromising situation with the girl of his dreams (Katie Holmes). And let's not forget what happens when the adults in the story attend a "key party."
The screenplay by James Schamus, based on a novel by Rick Moody, is a fascinating look at an era in our society when all kinds of exploration was going on regarding sex and its seamless boundaries, which were brought back to strict rules, thanks primarily to the advent of the AIDS crisis. This was a time when sex was in a time of flux, where classic interpretations of sexuality were re-opened for interpretation and not everyone was ready for it. Admittedly, we don't get any backstory about where the Hoods marriage went south, but it turns out to be irrelevant. There's also a scene early on where Elena is observed shoplifting some cosmetic in a pharmacy that I thought would be addressed later on in the film, but it never was.
Director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility; Brokeback Mountain) brings the same delicate detail to this story that he did those other films. Love the photography of the ice cycles clinging to everything in New Canaan, starting to melt, but fighting it every step of the way. The symbolic chill over New Canan is just as effective as the natural hazards that this chilling weather can cause. There's a scene where Mike is jumping on an icy diving board that leads to an emptied swimming pool that made my heart go straight into my shoes. The scene where the storm stopped the train on which Paul was traveling home for Thanksgiving also provided an unexpected chill. Paul's confrontation with his girl and best friend was also a highlight, and the sexual tension created during the key party was quite impressive. Also loved the tools Lee used to set the film...television sets in the movie are observed tuned into shows like The Time Tunnell and Room 222.
Lee also manages to get first rate performances from his cast right down the line. Loved Kevin Kline as the stuffy and self-centered Ben, while Joan Allen was heartbreaking as the severely broken Elena. Christina Ricci impresses as the sexually curious Wendy, but the scene stealer here was 3 time Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver as sexual pariah Janey. Weaver makes the most of limited screentime here with a blistering performance that dominates the film. Every time the story leaves Janey, we can't wait for her to come back. Frederick Elmes' gorgeous cinematography and Mychael Danna's moody music are the finishing touches on this suburban drama, for which fans of films like American Beauty and Revolutionary Road will have a heard start.
Nuanced direction and some superb performances from an excellent ensemble cast make 1997's The Ice Storm, a moody and prickly story of suburban dysfunction and the changing sexual mores of the 1970 worth watching.
The setting is 1973 New Canan, Connecticut, a small suburban town where we meet several different characters who are connected in various ways as several secrets about these people quietly simmer to the surface: Ben Hood (Oscar winner Kevin Kline) and his wife, Elena (Joan Allen) seem to be accepting the death of their marriage, which manifests itself in Ben's affair with neighbor Janey Carver (Sigourney Weaver), who is not only married to Jim (Jamey Sheridan), but cheating on Ben with young Neil Conrad (Glenn Fitzgerald). Ben and Elena's young daughter, Wendy (Christina Ricci) is experimenting sexually with the Carvers' son, Mike (Elijah Wood) and his brother, Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd),while Ben and Elena's son, Paul (Tobey Maguire) finds himself in a compromising situation with the girl of his dreams (Katie Holmes). And let's not forget what happens when the adults in the story attend a "key party."
The screenplay by James Schamus, based on a novel by Rick Moody, is a fascinating look at an era in our society when all kinds of exploration was going on regarding sex and its seamless boundaries, which were brought back to strict rules, thanks primarily to the advent of the AIDS crisis. This was a time when sex was in a time of flux, where classic interpretations of sexuality were re-opened for interpretation and not everyone was ready for it. Admittedly, we don't get any backstory about where the Hoods marriage went south, but it turns out to be irrelevant. There's also a scene early on where Elena is observed shoplifting some cosmetic in a pharmacy that I thought would be addressed later on in the film, but it never was.
Director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility; Brokeback Mountain) brings the same delicate detail to this story that he did those other films. Love the photography of the ice cycles clinging to everything in New Canaan, starting to melt, but fighting it every step of the way. The symbolic chill over New Canan is just as effective as the natural hazards that this chilling weather can cause. There's a scene where Mike is jumping on an icy diving board that leads to an emptied swimming pool that made my heart go straight into my shoes. The scene where the storm stopped the train on which Paul was traveling home for Thanksgiving also provided an unexpected chill. Paul's confrontation with his girl and best friend was also a highlight, and the sexual tension created during the key party was quite impressive. Also loved the tools Lee used to set the film...television sets in the movie are observed tuned into shows like The Time Tunnell and Room 222.
Lee also manages to get first rate performances from his cast right down the line. Loved Kevin Kline as the stuffy and self-centered Ben, while Joan Allen was heartbreaking as the severely broken Elena. Christina Ricci impresses as the sexually curious Wendy, but the scene stealer here was 3 time Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver as sexual pariah Janey. Weaver makes the most of limited screentime here with a blistering performance that dominates the film. Every time the story leaves Janey, we can't wait for her to come back. Frederick Elmes' gorgeous cinematography and Mychael Danna's moody music are the finishing touches on this suburban drama, for which fans of films like American Beauty and Revolutionary Road will have a heard start.