The Ice Storm
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Movie Reviews of The Ice Storm
Movie Review: That 70s Show...
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember growing up right in the middle of this. The 1970s were a strange decade indeed. I remember couples, even older couples, lining up to see DEEP THROAT like it was the latest chick-flick. Meanwhile, divorce became the cure-all for the disease of marriage. Men and women in their 30s+ were breaking free from the chains of outmoded morality and social inhibitions. There was only one problem. While our parents were busy shacking up, smoking pot, and passing out, we kids were left to our own devices. We roamed the streets and did all the experimenting we could think up, including some things that would make our parents sober up fast! Yep, I remember the 70s. THE ICE STORM is a very accurate recreation that brings a smile and a tear. I knew kids like Christina Ricci's character, I loved blowing stuff up w/ M-80s myself, and we all seemed to have parents who were so dedicated to "finding themselves" or just avoiding boredom, that they forgot to raise their children. Still, we somehow survived. THE ICE STORM captures that time of weirdness and seals it in amber. Highest recommendation...Movie Review: Frozen Hearts
Summary: 5 Stars
Director Ang Lee provides one of the most accurate and yet disturbing accounts of early 1970's suburban American life to date. Set in one evening of an "ice storm" (a combination of winter rain freezing everything into crystalline stillness) used as an overly strong metaphor, it encompasses the lives of several couples and their children. The topics include unhappy marriages, teen confusion, middle-aged boredom and open infidelity (there is a regular wife swapping party). Given these unpleasant topics, the film succeeds on Ang's direction and the incredible performances by the actors (Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Christina Ricci and Tobey McGuire). Some of the individual revelations are a welcome sight and many of the teen drug and sex scenes are humorous, although naïve and mildly tragic. It isn't until the end that one finds the ultimate price paid for a lifestyle that seems to have everything in style and nothing in substance and a complete and devastating loss of innocence.The extras are minimal and include the theatrical trailer and a nice featurette.
Movie Review: Ang Lee's best film, hands down
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Ice Storm" is a gorgeous adaptation of Rick Moody's novel of the same name. It is expertly acted, with a stellar cast: Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, Elijah Wood, Tobey MacGuire, Christina Ricci--to name just a few. Without going into too much detail about the film's plot, I will say that it is set in the 1970's, is very much a critique of that era in middle America; it is a story that addresses bleak issues, is told within a bleak setting--a winter ice storm, and pretty much functions as a study of moral ambiguity carried through two generations: we see the parents struggle with life-decisions, just as we see their children do this, as well. It is a beautifully told story that, despite its tragedy, never falls into sentimentality. And remarkably, I think it is a story that is mostly about redemption and forgiveness.
Not a light film by any means, but an absolutely rewarding one in every sense of the word. Why this didn't win Best Picture I couldn't say, except perhaps that it's *too* smart for the Academy to digest.
Movie Review: ....
Summary: 5 Stars
White and Suburban, Beautiful and Rich, Unfaithful and Depressed. I concur that the mid and late 90s saw an OVERabundance of films centered around these ideas. The Ice Storm has more grit and power than all of the others combined.The Ice Storm is a film about human curiosity, insecurity, disappointment, and overall failure. It is also about family, love, longing, terror, winter, the 70s, etc. etc. etc. The complexities are endless. Somehow, the film seems so simple and clear amidst all the knottiness. Ang Lee does this like no one else.
The character inter-play is so believable-everyone seems like they would know each other and everyone acts and looks like they really would. Nothing is over the top or pretentious. People do horrible things and people suffer because of it. The adults are just as messed up as the kids and yet everyone tries to keep up appearances. All of this is so frightening. The truth is stranger than fiction and the landscape and population of The Ice Storm couldn't be more real.
Movie Review: One of the best films of the 90s
Summary: 5 Stars
Pay no attention to the Wizard of Blahs, Leonard Maltin. This film is way too smart for him! Ang Lee's adaptation of Rick Moody's novel has everything: a tight script; talented, subtle acting; beautiful photography; wonderful period costumes and music. The story of upper-middle class white America in crisis in 1973 is really the story of how the turmoil of the 60s threw the moral certainty of the American family into question. But more than that, the film brilliantly illustrates Lee's most powerful theme: how the failure to communicate -- to really speak our thoughts, feelings, and desires -- becomes the downfall of his characters. The ice storm of the film's title is the physical manifestation of their crisis, and its effects on the climactic night results in death for one of the characters -- and a thawing for the others. A beautiful, elegant, superb film; one that everyone should see! I can't recommend it more strongly.