The Ice Harvest (2005)

Director:

Harold Ramis

Writers (WGA):

Richard Russo (screenplay) &
Robert Benton (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

23 November 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Thick Thieves. Thin Ice.

Plot:

A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Christmas Eve | Strip Club | Kansas | Lawyer

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

John Cusack	...	Charlie
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Vic
Lara Phillips	...	Rusti
Bill Noble	...	Culligan
Brad Smith	...	Ronny
Ned Bellamy	...	Sidney
Connie Nielsen	...	Renata
Mike Starr	...	Roy Gelles
T.J. Jagodowski	...	Officer Tyler
Meghan Maureen McDonough	...	Francie
Tab Baker	...	Dennis
Frank Gallo	...	Restaurateur
William Dick	...	Manager
Oliver Platt	...	Pete
David Pasquesi	...	Councilman Williams

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

USA:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Canada:18A (Alberta/Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Norway:15 | UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:12 | France:U | Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Argentina:13 | Norway:11 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | USA:R (certificate #39360) | South Korea:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Carpentersvillle, Illinois, USA

Company:

Focus Features

Trivia:

John Cusack's character's last name, Arglist, translates to "guile" or "deceitfulness" in German.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Charlie is in the convenience store buying the toys for his children, a cooler can be seen with wine in it. Kansas only sells wine in liquor stores.

Quotes:

Vic: You're dead, Roy. Don't just stand there pretending you're not.

Movie Connections:

References "Alvin & the Chipmunks" (1983)

Soundtrack:

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Blue Christmas for Cusack and Thornton in Seriocomic Noir Thriller

THE ICE HARVEST (TIH), another quirky triumph from Focus Features, should really be sold as a thriller with darkly comedic undertones a la FARGO rather than a comedy with thriller elements a la GROSSE POINTE BLANK (even though John Cusack looks remarkably like he did in GPB here). It's a subtle but crucial difference, and a successful change in tone for director Harold Ramis. The suspenseful yet surreally funny Kansas-set story of nervous Mob lawyer John Cusack teaming up with laid-back yet ruthless Billy Bob Thornton to steal over $2 million from Cusack's boss Randy Quaid, only to find themselves stuck in Wichita by an ice storm and all manner of goof-ups and goofballs, with a hit man on their tail to-boot, TIH tells its twisted tale as if my fave thriller author Jim Thompson (THE GRIFTERS, THE GETAWAY, POP. 1280, among others) wrote it in a jovial mood -- though I suspect that in a jovial mood, Thompson would have been more likely to smirk than belly-laugh. Set on Christmas Eve, TIH starts with the best unexpected holiday-themed credits since 1947's LADY IN THE LAKE and only gets more gleefully malevolent from there. You know our antiheroes are literally in for a blue Christmas, thanks to Alar Kivilo's sleek azure-tinged photography. Cusack and Thornton make such a good team that I'm now eager to rent their previous collaboration, PUSHING TIN, even though I've heard mixed reviews of that, too. Oliver Platt has been touted as TIH's scene-stealer in the role of Cusack's friend who stole his wife and, having lived to regret it, spends the whole film getting drunk and hilariously obnoxious. Platt's a hoot, all right, but Thornton has the slyest lines; his explanation of how his wife ends up killed by the hit man is evilly funny, all the more so for Thornton's matter-of-fact delivery. Connie Nielsen also deserves kudos for stealing her own scenes more subtly and sensuously as the sexy owner of The Sweet Cage, one of many strip joints in town that Cusack frequents (I came away from the movie thinking strip joints must be a cottage industry in Wichita). Nielsen looks like a Petty Girl or Varga Girl come to life, fresh from the pages of a vintage Esquire issue. If you want a wicked little tongue-in-cheek noir as an antidote to the season's holiday cheer, TIH may well be your cup of hemlock. (When TIH comes out on DVD, rent it along with BAD SANTA, FARGO, and/or GROSSE POINTE BLANK and have yourself a merry little day of eccentric movie mayhem!)