User Reviews

Got to this movie thinking it was a comedy (a black one) but it turned out to be a very violent movie. I did like the story and Cusack and Thorton do a good job playing the two thieves. But the best acting was done by Pete (Oliver Platt) who adds some light to the grim atmosphere. The Ice Harvest also has some Fargo elements in it. A couple of sequences are really, really good. The part where Pete is drunk and decides to go home, together with Charlie, for Christmas dinner and also the part where Charlie thinks Vic is dead and goes to his house to find out what happened to him. The next ten minutes I thought where really worth the movie, especially the part filmed at the frozen lake.

7 out of 10.

In the vein of the Coen brothers' "Fargo" and "Blood Simple," in which death and dying are all part of the fun, comes this newest release, "Ice Harvest," starring John Cusack ("High Fidelity") and Billy Bob Thornton ("Bad Santa") as a pair of inept but sincere crooks who pull off a Christmas Eve heist of $2 million in Wichita Falls, Kansas.

Directed by Harold Ramis, who has helmed such comedy classics as "Caddyshack," "National Lampoon's Vacation," "Groundhog Day" and "Analyze This," this dark-humored noir picture is smart, entertaining and holds up well, despite the blood-splatter and whiplash-inducing plot twists. It's part "A Simple Plan," part "Quick Change" part "Prizzi's Honor," but it stands up as a decent motion picture on its own.

Cusack is Charlie Arglist, a weak-kneed mob mouthpiece serving bloated, violent Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid), a mid-level boss who runs the small Midwestern town. Charlie is no one important in and of himself, but his connections gain him grudging respect from town sycophants likes cops, strippers, bartenders and others who want to impress his superiors.

Going nowhere and getting there fast, he, along with strip club owner Vic McLaughlin (Thornton), concoct an idea to steal $2 million from Guerrard the day before Christmas - which also happens to produce one of the worst freezing rainstorms in recent history. While Vic - a sleazy guy you wouldn't trust with 50 cents, let also a couple of million - takes the cash for "safekeeping," Charlie has to just play it cool until 5 a.m. Christmas morning. At that time, the two plan to split the Sunflower State and head for warmer climes.

Individually, neither man could perform such a brazen act as stealing this much mob money; Charlie doesn't have the guts, Vic doesn't have the brains. Together, though, they make a pretty decent combination.

As one would expect, however, things do not go as planned, and soon the whole scheme begins to unravel. It's at this point the bodies start piling up; but exactly who dies and what order, I will not reveal. Suffice it to say, though, it's not who we expect.

In addition, despite their best attempts at covering the crime, it seems just about everyone in town is in on it, a little matter which causes even more havoc and stress between the two thieves; as does the arrival of hit-man Roy Gelles (Mike Star, the hulking actor who played "Gas Man" in "Dumb & Dumber").

Cusack is appropriately cowering in his role of the indecisive,beaten-down lawyer with little to lose for the robbery, and not much else to gain in life. His low-key approach is perfectly contrasted to the bombastic violence and cockiness of Thornton, who has not been this maliciously delicious since "Bad Santa." Adding decent support is anger-plagued barkeep, Sidney (Ned Bellamy, "Con-Air," "Ed Wood") and Oliver Platt, as Charilie's best friend, Peter Van Heuten (Oliver Pratt, "Kinsey"). In fact, Pratt's work as a perpetual drunk is the best thing about this film. It's a classic inebriate and one which may (and I emphasize "may" here) just be enough to earn him a Supporting Actor nomination. It's one of the best drunk impressions since Lee Marvin in "Cat Ballou." Also along for a good-looking ride is Charlie's love interest, Renata (Connie Neilson, "The Great Raid"), another integral part of the ever-twisting story.

While Ramis' direction is fairly taut, the writing styles of Richard Russo and Robert Benton (the latter won an Academy Award as Best Director in 1979 for "Kramer vs. Kramer") shine as the dialogue is crackling good. Also singled out for kudos is the cinematographer, Alar Kivilo ("Hart's War," "A Simple Plan"), who uses the bleak, dreary, frozen Kansas landscape like a main character.

Like "Three Days of the Condor," you will trust no one in this film; and like "Hamlet," a great deal of the cast dies, but, overall, with smart puns to soften the death blows, "Ice Harvest" may be just the dark, depressing gift you're looking for this Christmas.

For a mindless thriller, this is the way to go. A sort of post-Coen Bros/Tarantino style dark humor bit with the old-fashioned clichés of thrillers mixed together, a pretty nice ensemble cast gets together to wreak havoc over Wichita... of all places. Actually that's the primary joke.

John Cusack plays the dispassionate lawyer hero of this story, the one who has stolen $2mil worth from his boss with the help of some weird guy named Vic (played by Billy Bob Thornton in a very Billy Bob Thornton way). The story follows Cusack's character as he wanders around town trying not to look guilty and meets a lot of weird people (one of which is played really well by Oliver Platt).

It's pretty funny, entertaining enough, and has enough of a good story to hold one's attention for about an hour and a half.

I'm not so sure about Connie Nielson's character. I really enjoy Nielson's acting but in this case her character was so fake (and supposed to be so--ARGH!) that any screen time with her was pretty much a real exercise in suspending disbelief. There was absolutely NO chemistry between her and Cusack. NONE. By the time the third act begins you pretty much hope that they'll never get together (keep watching, you may like what happens).

Watch it for a very droll Billy Bob Thornton, a very dispassionate Cusack, and some funny sketch-like scenes. Try not to bother figuring out the plot or the antagonist characters as you pretty much already know what they're all going to do anyway. And ignore Renata.

--PolarisDiB

On the whole, I liked this movie more than I was put off by it. I am a fan of both John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton and expected some kind of transcendent experience with regard to probing the depths of rottenness some people are capable of, confirming my generally dim view of most of the human race.

The acting of both leads satisfied my expectations of them. However, recalling Billy Bob in "Bad Santa," which I also enjoyed hugely last year, I was viscerally disappointed that his character didn't exhibit the merest drop of redeemability--viscerally, I say, not intellectually. The Cusack character, on the other hand, showed some decency, and in fact it was hard to accept that he was a "mob lawyer," working for such a monster as the Randy Quaid character, and I was pleased that he was left at the end with the money, even though he had to drag Pete along.

As for Pete (Oliver Platt), he played a wonderfully believable drunk, but one with some residual intelligence. Reviewing his filmography,I realize that I haven't seen him much before. One movie that was mentioned that he was in I had seen, but didn't recall him. This movie will bring him more jobs, I think, and I hope they aren't all drunks.

For the record, I am a 73-year-old female.

Miriam Eldridge

Wow, this movie is a real downer on so many levels it is hard to know where to begin. The attacks on any value worth mentioning are relentless. Pain and grief are served raw with a large side of betrayal, washed down with copious amounts of whiskey (a depressant).

The film as a film noir should at least have underlying currents of point and value to the standards they are holding up to knock down. This film just knocks them down for no apparent reason other than the pleasure of doing so.

Where to begin? Marriage is a pathetic construct being manipulated by greedy manipulative shrews, and the kids that result are objects for gaining control and further manipulation.

It is so bad that when Platt tells Cusack he was sleeping with his then-wife (now Platt's wife) for over a year before Cusack was divorced from her Cusack just shrugs. Betrayal of a best friend is such a non event.

The cop is a pandering opportunist who repeatedly declines to enforce the law for the incredibly distant hope of getting a good mention by Cusack to Cusack's boss. The incompetent and bumbling cop is murdered for his efforts.

The thieves (Billy Bob & Cusack) are un-endearing double crossing losers, and the main female role (Connie Nielsen) is right there with them.

It is relentless in its effort to sap capital from anything that might possibly have some left.

Not one redeeming value or reason why in this whole waste of time and money. Unless your goal is to exit more depressed and with fewer answers than when you entered, don't waste your coins or moments of life.

or black ice if you prefer, the dangerous kind. Harold Ramis, a comedy director, brings you The Ice Harvest, a Noir wannabe. The weak points are the attempts that Ramis makes at making this a comedy and the mostly blah script that plays like The Usual Things To Do With Your Falcon While You Double On The Asphalt. There is the double crossing partner, the scheming woman, and the dead bodies to dispose of. The comedy isn't necessarily bad, but it is so marginalized that it isn't completely effective and once Billy Bob is gone, much of the comedy leaves with him. The high point is the cast. Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Platt, and Connie Nielson all play type, but who cares when it's this much fun. Not a classic, but it isn't Lucky Numbers either.

Vic "You should have been there. He threatened to shoot Philys. I think he was counting on a level of love and devotion that just wasn't there."

My impression is that the entire theft was orchestrated by Charlie. I think his friend, Pete, was in on the deal and helped move some of the details along so certain things happened certain ways. If you watch the movie a second time with these thoughts in your mind, you will reach the same conclusion. Charlie was the mastermind with Pete as his assistant. The only thing Charlie didn't plan was that knife and the associated discomfort.

I don't see this as a spoiler, although some may conclude this to be the case, so, I warned everyone. I think the information makes the movie that much more enjoyable.

This movie is AWFUL!! I grew up on the brilliance of Harold Ramis...Stripes, Caddyshack and The Ghostbusters franchise. So I went with great hopes. But a wooden, one-dimensional performance by John Cusack (who appeared bored throughout the entire film) and a bad job by Connie Nielsen, who does her best to imitate Kathleen Turner in Body Heat, left me wanting my money back. And there is no plot...just the need to survive Christmas Day AFTER a $2,000,000 robbery which took "brilliance and balls", so we are told. The movie begins after the robbery and there is no brilliance nor balls displayed here. In fact that only reason that I gave it as high as 2 points, is that most of the movie is set in "titty" bars and there is some exemplary (as well as some obese) T & A pictured, hence the R rating. Billy Bob Thornton has managed to make a couple of good movies, but more often than not, he's been in losers, and this is the worst of them. The only truly funny moment in the film occurs when Randy Quaid (who is in the movie for all of 5 minutes) is shot in the face with bird-shot, and gets up with a bunch of holes in his face. Don't waste your time or money on this stinker!

The acting in this film was decent. Cusack played a subtle man entering a situation far above his head. But don't expect more than a few twists, all painfully obviously coming.

I am a resident of Wichita, KS...and I think the filmmaker had us pegged well. He managed to show the hypocrisy in a scene where an 'impolite drunk' was kicked in the crotch for outrageously hitting on a 'good Christian bartender' in her straight-laced boyfriends presence.

Wichita is very much a moral town...on the surface. But scratch just beneath the surface...and you will find greed, sexual repression, and violence here. I suspect many moral Wichita natives (and Kansans in general) will get their panties in a twist over this film...but then again moralists have made an art form out of protesting publicly the vices they practice in secret :(