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Movies / On DVD / The Ice Harvest
The Ice Harvest

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The Ice Harvest (2005)

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Reviews Counted:127

Fresh:57

Rotten:70

Average Rating:5.5/10

Consensus: The Ice Harvest offers a couple of laughs, but considering the people involved, it should be a lot funnier.

Runtime: 89 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Scott Phillips, THE ICE HARVEST is a comic film noir set in very cold and icy Wichita, Kansas. John Cusack turns in another fine performance as Charlie Arglist, a soft-spoken... Based on the novel by Scott Phillips, THE ICE HARVEST is a comic film noir set in very cold and icy Wichita, Kansas. John Cusack turns in another fine performance as Charlie Arglist, a soft-spoken lawyer who works for local mob boss Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid). Charlie hangs out in strip clubs, pines after femme fatale Renata (Connie Nielsen), rarely sees his kids, and basically watches life happen all around him. Ready for a change, he and the much more hardened Vic Cavanaugh (Billy Bob Thornton) steal $2.1 million from Guerrard and plan to play it cool before leaving town, trying not to create suspicion. All they need to do is make it through Christmas Eve--but that's not going to be easy for Charlie, who spends the long night getting caught up in a series of very funny, very dangerous, and very bloody events that unfold while sweet Christmas carols echo in the background. Reminiscent of such stylish modern noirs as RED ROCK WEST and FARGO, THE ICE HARVEST features a clever script by Oscar-winner Robert Benton and Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Russo, and was directed by Harold Ramis, the former SCTV star and Ghostbuster who has helmed such successful films as CADDYSHACK, GROUNDHOG DAY, and ANALYZE THIS. The acting is uniformly excellent--including Mike Starr as hit man Roy Gelles, who never shows his face--but Oliver Platt runs away with the film as Pete Van Heuten, an old friend of Charlie's who stole his family and now is an obnoxious, hysterical, pathetic drunken fool with a good heart. [More]

Starring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, Randy Quaid

Starring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, Randy Quaid, Oliver Platt, Justine Bentley

Director: Harold Ramis

Director: Harold Ramis
Screenwriter: Robert Benton, Richard Russo
Producer: Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa
Composer: David Kitay
Studio: Focus Features

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Reviews for The Ice Harvest

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
02/07/06
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
02/04/06
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's an enjoyably pulpy vibe to The Ice Harvest, aided considerably by the performance of a flame-haired, throaty-voiced Connie Nielsen who vamps it up like a 1940s femme fatale.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
02/02/06
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Both unfunny and rather gruesome

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
01/14/06
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Dead cold

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
09/01/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
11/20/08
Brian Marder
Brian Marder
Hollywood.com

...generally comes off as an effective adaptation of Scott Phillips' admittedly superior novel...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
05/12/08
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

When a lot of you tell me you want intelligent movies made by adults for adults, you're asking for movies like this one.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/24/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Nation | comment Comment
11/11/06
Stuart Klawans
Stuart Klawans
Nation

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
05/12/06
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

A great cast, a script by Oscar-winning veteran Robert Benton, with Richard Russo, and direction by Harold Ramis still don't add up to much more than a shrug.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
04/21/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

90% cynicism / 10% hope, and it's jammed full of funny performances, dark divergences, and a low-key air of existential angst that you simply don't see in many multiplex movies. I love this one.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
02/18/06
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
DVDTalk.com

Robert Benton and Harold Ramis, put on dunce caps and go stand in the corner.

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
01/03/06
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic

Memo to John Cusack: There's a thin line between humorous unflappability in the face of strange events, and sleepwalking.

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
12/24/05
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NYC Film Critic | comment Comment
12/18/05
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
NYC Film Critic

A total (bomb), the wrong project for almost everyone involved.

Full Review Source: Eclipse Magazine | comment Comment
12/15/05
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Eclipse Magazine
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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