The Ice Harvest


Voices of: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, Randy Quaid, Oliver Platt
Directed by: Harold Ramis
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
2005

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A laywer (John Cusack) and his accomplice (Billy Bob Thornton) embezzle $2 million from a corrupt businessman (Randy Quaid) and are home free to escape. However, an ice storm blows in, making the get away difficult, and everything begins to go wrong.

Review:

Tim:
Yet another disappointing dark comedy. While I was at first intrigued by this film, it becomes quickly apparent that it is not going to amount to very much, and we'll be left disappointed. The entire concept isn't strong enough to support much, and becomes increasingly shaky as the film progresses.

John Cusack is decent in the lead role, but he is stuck in a bad movie- he knows it, and we know it, and there is relatively little he can do. Billy Bob Thornton is surprisingly good, and has the film's best scene (the one involving the trunk). I really liked the pairing of Cusack and Thornton (reminding me of their Pushing Tin days), but I wish they could have had more time to play off each other. Their scenes together near the end are quite good, but alas, they are too few.

Connie Nielsen brings very little to the table and I was mildly disappointed in her. Randy Quaid is good in his small role. Oliver Platt provides some good laughs, but played the role to get so many more, and they just did not come.

Usually putting Cusack as the straight man amid a ton of wacky characters is a pretty safe bet. However; here it is all too apparent what is happening, and it just does not work.

While The Ice Harvest has a few good laughs, it produces an excess of boredom, and for all the most diehard of fans, it is better to just not watch this film at all.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Pushing Tin, The Grifters, Bad Santa