Harold Ramis's The Ice Harvest is a perplexing miscalculation of a plot less exercise in film noir that tries to adhere to the principles and personalities of its characters, in a presumably more effective manner, but instead, creates too many threads that result in untidy management of such loose ends. There is simultaneously too much and too little going on here, even less so in the way of character/human interest when characters are either drawn too broadly or too unbelievable to take seriously. The coffin-sealing nail at hand here, however, is the film's inability to find a consistent tone or one that effectively merges dark humor with crime, greed, loyalty, and seamy characters. When there's little humor working and the characters are too broad to feel for is when you know you have a lackluster film noir on your hands.The film takes place on Christmas Eve in Wichita, Kansas, where a mob lawyer named Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) and a businessman and pornographer Vic Cavanaugh (Billy Bob Thornton) have just pulled off the heist of a lifetime. They've stolen $2 million from their mob boss Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid), in an act of slick sabotage, but because of horribly icy roads, they learn they'll be unable to leave town until the next day. Vic takes the money for the time being, and go on their own ways, in hopes to avoid Guerrard and his goons, who are onto their activities.For the next eighty minutes, we mostly follow Charlie, as he restlessly roams around town, at one point being forced to take care of his drunken pal Pete (Oliver Platt) for a large portion of the night. This was the fatal flaw of the film I predicted within the first few minutes, being that both Charlie and Vic would have to split up and we'd be greatly deprived of the great banter that could've taken place between Cusack and Thornton. Instead, the conversations Charlie has with a barrage of acquaintances, and the frequently incorrigible Pete seem to exist only as dreary substitutes for anything other than some sort of intriguing conversation. This is the first time in memory I can think of a film less than ninety minutes in length feeling padded and bloated with a great deal of air more than anything.Ramis's contributions to the comedy drama are undeniable; he's a low-key, often forgotten treasure of the genre and works to put a remarkably relatable spin of magic on each film he does. However, his direction is sterile with The Ice Harvest, certainly not elevated by Lee Percy's basic editing structure, offering no visual flair or complex connective tissue that rises from the surface. Even the cinematography, done by Alar Kivilo, does little to concoct an environment other than a depressingly boring location that just so happens to be the place where two criminals conducted a heist.On top of having little interesting dialog and flat characters, The Ice Harvest is a film without a personality. Even the film's actors seem bored and unfazed by the material at hand, mainly because writers Richard Russo and Robert Benton infuse such little life and excitement into the script. A film concerning the dialogs between Charlie and Vic could've and should've been the very meat of the film, but instead, it meanders around, hoping to find something to do that will interest and provoke emotions, but unfortunately lies stagnant most of the time. The Ice Harvest is a film on autopilot, and while it's not particularly offensive or worth condemning on a horribly mean-spirited level, it's depressingly mediocre given the talent and the potential involved.Starring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Platt, and Randy Quaid. Directed by: Harold Ramis.

A different Christmas Eve in Kansas. We meet a shady big shot lawyer, Charlie Arglist, which just have committed a crime together with a companion. In some hours, they are to leave after stealing two million dollars. But it's a slippery evening in Wichita, and Charlie's way if killing the hours are likely to be trouble...This film, made from a book by Scott Phillips, resembles other wintery black comedies like "Fargo", "The big white", "In Bruges", "Fuck up", "Thin ice" and "A simple plan", but falls shirt on one level, the humor. The plot is good, and the storytelling is entertaining, but it's not as funny and intriguing, or even charming as the others. The best part is in the middle of the film. Still it deserves a 7 in my hook, as I enjoy black comedies.Good acting, and good cast, and even a good director in Harold Ramis ("Analyse this", "Analyze that", "Groundhog Day", "National Lampoon's Vacation") should have made this work big time. When it didn't, it's due to a script not made with enough humor, to take it out of the mediocre.The DVD comes with two alternative endings, which both would give the film the right ending punch. They were probably left out at a pre screening. That was wrong, as always, and a reason this film falls a bit short. Ramis actually made a short movie with the alternative endings, which actually stands on it's own two legs.A couple if good quotes are even left out in one if the alternative endings: "You see; this is the whole problem with people: If you are what you do, and you never do anything, then what the fu@@ are you?".

Infinitely cool, twisted, post-modern and blackly comedic noir that ends up being an ideal antidote to the saccharine-overloaded bloat of sickliness that defines most festive movies.Mob lawyer Charlie (John Cusack) and his associate Vic (Billy Bob Thornton) heist two million in cash from gang boss Guerrard (Randy Quaid) on Christmas Eve. Now all they have to do is act normal and get out of town on Christmas Day. But, as is the inevitable way of such things, it's not going to be that simple.Cue cross, double-cross, duplicity, murder, violence, slapstick and some razor sharp dialogue along with a sex-on-legs femme-fatale (glacial Connie Nielsen) and Charlie's friend, and also husband of his ex wife (alcohol challenged Oliver Platt) and you have a neo-noir classic to watch as the chestnuts roast and the wine mulls.Cusack, Thornton, Platt, Nielsen and Quaid are immensely watchable and the minor characters who come and go as the film proceeds are all impressively sketched. It's not a fast-paced action spectacular, but it has its fair share of gore and grisliness. If the usual Christmas fare of animated Santas, nuns singing on mountains and elderly misanthropists finding redemption through multiple haunting is beginning to pale, reinvigorate your festive palate with this absolute gem of a movie. It's a bit tasty.

I don't understand the low ratings on The Ice Harvest, I thought it was interesting and different.A lawyer and his associate have got their hands on two million dollars from their boss and they need to appear calm for a while until they get a chance to flee with the money. It is Christmas eve and everything can happen to them.The Ice Harvest has so many twists and genius scenes, I was really entertained. The one scene I loved in particular was when the men stood on the dock over icy water. It was really brilliant.This movie is great if you're looking for a thrill and some quirky entertainment.