The Ice Storm (1997)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:54
Fresh:44
Rotten:10
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: Director Ang Lee revisits the ennui-laden decadence of 1970s suburban America with deft humor and gripping pathos.
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Director Ang Lee's main concern is a subtle examination of family life that he began with THE WEDDING BANQUET and EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN. With THE ICE STORM, Lee creates a truly American period film... [More]
Starring: Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, Tobey Maguire
Director: Ang Lee
Reviews for The Ice Storm
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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 4/5 |
Arguably Lee's first truly essential film. Full Review |
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A thoroughly enjoyable blend of comedy and melodrama... Full Review |
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4/5 |
Spot-on performances, some icicles that are pure visual poetry, and enough symbolism to fuel a thesis, make The Ice Storm anything but a gloomy ride. Full Review |
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4/5 |
The dazzling ensemble perfectly captures every nuance in one of the finest acting showcases you could hope for. Full Review |
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4/4 |
Beautifully nuanced, passionately performed, and terrifically realized piece of work. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Beautifully acted, refreshingly un-camp in its take on wide lapels and progressive rock and occasionally coolly moving. It's just that ultimately, there's less here than meets the eye. Full Review |
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A well-observed and deftly performed examination of upper-middle-class emotional deep freeze... Full Review |
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5/5 |
A rich and elegant drama. Full Review |
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B |
What impressively begins as a gentle social satire gradually becomes a conventional family melodrama, one that lacks a clear moral center and in which the parents are just as confused as their children Full Review |
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91/100 |
...a black comedy ... that ultimately acquires Hitchcockian levels of suspense. Full Review |
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B- |
Ang Lee is a terrific filmmaker, but his usually upbeat directing style is stilted by the angst It's a well crafted, but, ultimately, negative-feeling movie. Full Review |
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A |
It's concerned with the differences between the culture we profess and the lifestyles we actually indulge. Even more, it's about the consequences of betrayal. Full Review |
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 4/10 |
A quarter of a century ago, Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver dealt with the same issues more successfully. Full Review |
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3/4 |
This is a cold and calculating film that will temporarily dampen those fond memories of everything we cherish from two decades back. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
Sketched with subtlety and refined detail worthy of Ingmar Bergman. Full Review |
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4/4 |
Damn, is this film great! Full Review |
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5/5 |
No review available.
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2.5/5 |
Rather than being moved or transfixed, you feel frozen and impartial, almost as disengaged as the characters themselves. Full Review |
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4/4 |
A remarkable film that takes us straight into John Updike territory, duplicating on screen exactly what the writer achieves on the page. Full Review |
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The best film about family so far this year. Just don't think Disney. Full Review |
CommentLatest News for The Ice Storm
July 29, 2005:
SNL's Seth Meyers Finds the "Key" to Feature-Length Laffer
Saturday Night Live joker Seth Meyers has sold a comedy pitch entitled "Key Party" to Paramount, which Lorne Michaels will (of course) produce.The story deals with... More...
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