I saw this movie for the first time on cable, with absolutely no expectations going in, as I had not even heard of it before watching it the first time. One of Harold Ramis' better efforts as a director, with understated performances by Billy Bob Thornton, John Cusack, and Connie Nielsen, all working off a script by Oscar winner Robert Benton and Emmy nominee Richard Russo. John Cusack stars as Charlie Arglist, a morally compromised lawyer who has joined with strip club owner Vic Cavenaugh (Billy Bob Thornton) to steal 2 million dollars from a local mob boss, and black comedy hilarity ensues. Connie Nielsen is ice-cold Renata, and Oliver Platt adds much needed comic relief as Charlie's hapless sidekick, the current husband of Charlie's ex wife. The shady lawyer, icy-cold love interest, and the mob-boss antagonist are all tired tropes, but somehow, the characters work in spite of that. Carpentersvillle, Illinois stands in for Wichita, on Christmas eve, and the frozen scenery is palpably cold. It's not a 10/10 outing, but it's far smarter than many others, and if you like dark humor and noir thrillers, this one has much going for it. Solit 7.5 out of ten, I'll round up to eight stars because I was pleasantly surprised. On a side note, Charlie says at one point "As Wichita falls, so falls Wichita Falls", which is a misquote of a 1980s Pat Metheny album "As falls Wichita, ,so falls Wichita Falls"

When two low level mafia members are frustrated with their roles, they come up with a plan to steal two million dollars from their boss. Everything goes off without a hitch, and now, they just have to wait one night before they can get out of town and move on to a new life, but things are never that simple. The Ice Harvest was an interesting film, with a great cast, and had they been able to pull off what they were attempting to do, it would have been a classic. Producers decided to make this film a modern day, 1930's type noir film, but at the same time, they wanted to mock how cheesy and over the top these films could be. It was a great idea, but it didn't work because the mocking wasn't subtle. In fact, the film takes it so far, that it becomes exactly what they were trying to make fun of in the first place. John Cusack stars and he can make any film better. This guy can play anyone and is always amazing, I just can't understand why he doesn't take on bigger roles. Here he's paired with Billy Bob Thornton, who under the right circumstances, can be hilarious. While he was pretty funny, he has almost no chemistry with Cusack and that hurt the film. These guys were partners, but on completely opposite pages and it just doesn't work. The Ice Harvest was an interesting story and I wish they had been able to pull off what they were attempting to do, but very quickly the film becomes a farce of itself, brutally predictable, and simply a waste of time.

The Ice Harvest (2005)Okay, someone tell me why this movie is worth watching. For the almost flashy sets and groovy lighting? For the couple of great actors in less than stellar performances? For the gaudy violence that is neither plasticky like Tarantino nor hyper-real like Scorsese? All this stuff is here. And if you give a hoot about who kills who, and can keep track of why, then you might think this is passable. It's meant to be a black comedy, but that requires timing and wit, both missing here. It's kind of a Christmas movie, but only incidentally.It starts slow, and then keeps going slow (as you think to yourself it'll pick up soon), then it does pick up with casual murder after casual murder. You don't really worry about who dies or that it's so brutal. Who cares? The main character played by John Cusack is typical Cusack and maybe you'll like him (the actor), but his character is a bore and you don't really care that he's about to get whacked, or almost whacked, in scene after scene. And Billy Bob? Also disappointing (and more of a surprise because he's a great actor).Yeah, I hated this movie. First it made me sleepy (literally) and then it made me bored (but not sleepy just because there was so much fabulous violence).The director here, Harold Ramis, has some dazzling successes to his credit, including "Groundhog Day" and "Caddyshack." The writers are to blame here as well, but one of the screenwriters has a long admirable history, too, going back to "Bonnie and Clyde." So what gives? Bad luck? Lack of money? Conflict of personalities? Who knows!But the sensibility is just out of touch here. I would avoid this one by a mile.

There are some films you know are intelligently made and good for you, but you keep leaving the screen in search of nourishment or to call a friend. Once in a while, however, some unexpected, relatively unknown film just grabs you and holds you to the screen with a tightly-constructed plot and wonderful sense of character; such a film is The Ice Harvest.This is a crime thriller set in a seedy milieu at Christmas time, like glittering diamonds in the trash, and it's a heist film--but the money has already been stolen when the film begins--what follows is a struggle between a batch of not exactly admirable characters to see who gets to keep the cash--at times zany, frequently gruesome, but always fascinating, I found this to be highly entertaining--and with Cusack, Thornton, and Oliver Platt interacting, it's hard to go wrong.