“As Wichita falls…so falls Wichita Falls”
The Ice Harvest is a good movie that was sunk by its trailer in my humble opinion. The trailer sells it as a rollicking comedy, which it has moments of, but it really is closer to a film noir or crime caper. I remember seeing the trailer and thinking it was a comedy, but the movie is funny, touching, and violent (as the filmmakers describe it). Realize that as you go in and you’ll be fine with the movie.
The Ice Harvest is about a mob lawyer named Charlie (John Cusack) and his partner Vic (Billy Bob Thornton) who embezzle a large amount of money from their boss (Randy Quaid). There are numerous complications and twists and turns as Charlie and Vic try and get away with the embezzled money on Christmas Eve.
Thornton and Cusack both deliver the same style of performance that have made them stars, and have the same chemistry that we saw in Pushing Tin. Cusack spends most of the movie bumbling through one situation to the next, and Thornton always seems to have something up his sleeve that he isn’t sharing with Charlie.
Thornton’s love of his wife is an example of how his character is the darker of the two, and helps to plant the ideas that he is simply using Cusack as the fall guy. Cusack provides some of the laughs, but it is mostly through his scatterbrained delivery of lines that we have seen him do in almost every movie role he has taken – not that there is anything wrong with that because it does work for him.
Oliver Platt provides most of the comedy as Charlie’s drunken friend who just happens to have married Charlie’s ex-wife. His drunken argument with his father-in-law while shaking a turkey leg is hilarious. Platt just continues to add to Charlie’s problems, and you can’t help but feel sorry for Charlie for having the guy dumped on him.
Connie Nielsen also plays the fem fatale. She adds much of the “noir” elements to the movie, and seems like she walked off a Bogart film set. There are several wonderful moments of dialogue throughout the movie, both comedic and dramatic.
“Did you notice that I’m practicing non-violent resistance in honor of the Christmas holiday. Because I think that it’s the way the baby Jesus would’ve wanted me to do it.”
The movie is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. For a movie that didn’t entirely burn up the box office, Universal has included a nice set of extra features. To start with there are two alternative endings for the movie, both are much more darker than the ending that is in the film.
It is clear that the filmmakers decided to go with a “lighter” ending, and one that even manages to add some humor into the dark film. Both alternate endings fit in with some of the movie’s darker and violent tendencies, but would have ended the movie on an unneeded downer. I can see how both alternate endings would have failed to test well with an audience, and understand the reason to lighten up the movie’s ending. Again, the theatrical ending does fit better with the way the film juggled its “noir” feeling with some of the comedic elements.
There is a 17-minute documentary called “Cracking the Story” that interviews author Scott Phillips (who wrote the novel this movie is based on) and screenwriters Richard Russo and Robert Benton. Next is a 13 minute documentary entitled “Beneath the Harvest” that has interviews with the cast, filmmakers, and crew. The final documentary is a 6 minute featurette entitled “Ice Cracking : Analysis of a Scene” that breaks down the scene on the frozen lake.
There is also a fun outtake featuring Billy Bob Thornton doing a scene as Karl from Sling Blade. Cusack plays along as Thornton describes his wife, her weight issues, and how she is on that “Subway” diet. This scene is almost funnier than some of the moments that made it into the movie. To round things out there is a feature length commentary with director Harold Ramis. There are also trailers for other Universal releases but no trailer for the Ice Harvest.
Ice Harvest is a good movie in my opinion, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s a comedy. The makers describe it as a retro film noir and if you consider it from that angle then you may enjoy it as I did. Don’t get me wrong, there are several moments of laugh out loud comedy (especially the bar scene that produces Platt’s passive resistance line above). Definitely give it a chance as a rental.
“You’re dead Roy, don’t just stand there pretending you’re not.”
The Ice Harvest is available for pre-order at Amazon for a Tuesday, Feb. 28th release. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD’s database for more information.
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