The Ice Storm

Rating:
Summary: Freezing
Review: I watched this movie because of Elijah Wood, and I was rewarded in the fact that his performance was amazing. In fact, the entire cast gave very strong performances. However, The Ice Storm was possibly the most emotionally draining film I have ever viewed. Don't get me wrong, it is a fantastic movie, with breathaking cinematography. Ang Lee manages to portray the slow spiral out of control of two suburban families with mostly imagery and very little dialogue. The ending is tragic, and leaves you feeling confused and discontent. The Ice Storm was a great movie, but I never want to see it again.

Rating:
Summary: Lovley movie
Review: This movie has a wonderful footage. I don't really know what's so good about it, it just is. The Ice Storm only gets four stars by me, because there are better movies to watch, but this is a very, very good movie to.

Rating:
Summary: ...mixed results
Review: Loved the movie and I wish I could say the same for the soundtrack. This is one poorly compiled collection of songs that concentrates too much on the nostalgia part of it leaving out much of the music score. In my opinion that's a cheap way of releasing anything. As you are watching the movie, the persian pipe in the opening scene, which will repeatingly play through out the movie isn't included on the soundtrack...that's a bit of a mystery to me. Granted Shoplift and Finale are good tracks but they don't make up for that missing track and it's prehaps one of the most achingly sad and haunting piece of film music you will ever hear. I think that's one of the problems with nostalgic motion picture soundtracks, they often neglect the music score part of it and instead you get songs that you are more formularized with. That may be fine but I think that the instrumental tracks stir your emotions and all the other tracks are just sort of there in the background that you hardly notice. Mychael Danna is a great composer and unfortunately "The Ice Storm" doesn't showcase his talents all that well.

Rating:
Summary: "A Fine Film."
Review: Ang Lee's darkest film yet, this is an exploration of what goes on beneath the surface of 1970's suburbia. Albeit a cold, dark exploration, the film is still moving, while emotionlally draining. A fine film, skifully acted and beautifully directed by Lee. Definitely not a movie for everyone, Lee adds a bit of dark humor here and there, but for the most part this is a deadly serious picture, tragic and as bleak as its title suggests. Much overlooked, "The Ice Storm" suggest that there's truly something rotten at the heart of suburbia, and one of the best films to address the topic.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Plot
Review: This movie-which was once a brilliant novel by rick M. i thought that this movie was a bit better than the novel-the novel was a bit more grafic than the movie-i enjoyed both-if you are looking for a serious dramatic movie-go for the ice storm.

Rating:
Summary: insecurity and lack of love
Review: An acquaintance of mine recently listed "The Ice Storm" among his top five films of all time. So I watched it. The movie is engrossing, very well acted, and even haunting...but is it among the best of all time? Probably not.

The main thrust of the is that insecure people do a lot of dumb things if they cannot find love (a hint: everybody in this story is insecure). Maybe all the characters should have followed Sigorney Weaver's character's advice to Christina Ricci's character and gone off into the desert. They all act (adults and teens) like adolescents.

Perhaps there is a broader lesson to be drawn from this very well done picture: When the foundations of sand that we--as a society--build for ourselves crumble, those without a more lasting foundation are bound to suffer. The folks in this movie sure do.

All in all, "The Ice Storm" is a very watchable, intriguing film. A film just like it (American Beauty) deserved the Oscar it won. Maybe "The Ice Storm" deserved one too. I recommend this movie highly.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Performances by Kline and Allen
Review: The difference between adolescence and adulthood can be defined in terms of years or age, but when it comes right down to it, the only real difference is in the experiences the added years provide. As we mature, we are at some point confronted with the realization-- some sooner, some later-- that age and experience do not necessarily equate to satisfaction and personal identity in our lives, the two things we are all, though perhaps subconsciously, striving to attain. But it's an elusive butterfly we're chasing; and at a certain age, the lack of fulfillment in one's life may be dismissed out-of-hand by some as a midlife crisis in a feeble attempt to justify certain actions or attitudes. Attaching such a label to it, however, is merely simplifying a state of being that seems to be perpetually misunderstood, and we resort to using psychological ploys on ourselves in order to rationalize away behavior that is often unacceptable in the cold light of reason and morality. This, of course, is not a unique situation, but an inevitable step one takes upon reaching an age at which the awareness of mortality begins to set in, which is something we all have to deal with in our own way, in our own time. And it's an issue that lies allegorically at the heart of director Ang Lee's pensive, insightful drama, "The Ice Storm," in which we discover that-- more often than not-- the adult we become is nothing more than an extension of the adolescent; we may shed the skin of youth, but the awkward confusion and uncertainty remains, albeit manifested in different ways, to which for awhile we may respond in opposition even to our own conscience, creating a double standard in our lives which only serves to exacerbate the confusion and unhappiness, leaving us alone to face the cold and frozen landscapes of our own soul.

Working from an insightful and intelligent screenplay by James Schamus (who also wrote Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Eat Drink Man Woman," among others), Lee has crafted and delivered a lyrical and poetic-- though somewhat dark-- film that tells the story of two neighboring families living in Connecticut in the early '70s: Ben and Elena Hood (Kevin Kline and Joan Allen) and their children, Paul (Tobey Maguire) and Wendy (Christina Ricci); and Jim and Janey Carver (Jamey Sheridan and Sigourney Weaver) and their children, Mikey (Elijah Wood) and Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd). And it's a story to which many will be able to relate on a very personal, individual level, as it reflects an issue common to us all-- that of trying to make a tangible connection with someone or something in our life that we can hold on to and take comfort in. Ben and Elena have grown apart; she has distanced herself emotionally and sexually from Ben, and unfulfilled, she longs again for the freedom of her spent youth, while Ben seeks solace in an emotionally vapid but physically satisfying relationship with another woman. Jim, who spends much of his time on the road, has become completely disconnected from his entire family; his children are apathetic to his very presence, and Janey exists in a constant state of promiscuous numbness, yet cold and indifferent to her own husband.

The Hood and Carver children, meanwhile, are suffering the pains of adolescence and trying to figure out the world in which they live, exploring their feelings with and for one another and attempting to understand the whys and wherefores of it all. And to whom can they turn for guidance in an era that's giving them Nixon and Watergate, new age spiritualism and self-absorbed parents who teach one thing and do another?

The story unfolds through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Paul, whose meditations on the literal and figurative ice storm that descends upon the two families over a long Thanksgiving weekend forms the narrative of the film. And it's through Paul's observations that Lee so subtly and effectively presents his metaphor, in which he captures the beauty, as well as the ugliness, that inexplicably coexists within and which surrounds the turbulence and turmoil of the Hood's and Carver's world, which is ultimately visited by tragedy as their drama proceeds to it's inevitable climax. It's sensitive material that will undoubtedly touch a nerve with many in the audience, and Lee takes great care to present it accordingly, with a studied finesse that makes it an emotionally involving and thoroughly engrossing drama.

Lee also knows how to get the best out of his actors, and there are a number of outstanding and memorable performances in this film, beginning with that of Kevin Kline. Kline does comedy well, but he does drama even better, as he proves here with his portrayal of Ben. The final scene of the film, in fact, belongs to Kline, as it is here that we discover the true nature of the man he is in his heart of hearts. It's a superb piece of acting, and one of the real strengths of the film.

Joan Allen also turns in a strong performance through which she reveals the insufferable inner conflict that so affects Elena's life, and especially her relationship with Ben. And it's in Allen's character, more than any of the others, that we see how fine the line is between the adult and the adolescent. It is not unusual to find a bit of the mother in the daughter; but Allen shows us through Elena just how much of the daughter is actually in the mother, which underscores one of the basic tenets of the film. It's a performance that should've earned Allen an Oscar nomination at the very least.

Also turning in performances that demand special attention are Maguire, Ricci, Wood and especially Jamey Sheridan, whose portrayal of Jim is one of his best-- it's believable, and totally honest. Penetrating and incisive, "The Ice Storm" is remarkably poignant and absorbing; without question, it's one of Lee's finest films.

Rating:
Summary: Ang Lee's emotional fire-starter
Review: This movie is a hauntng and realistic peice of work. Ang Lee brings a set of emotions to the screen that will leave you looking at your own relationships and what may be hidden beneath them. I highly recomend this film. It changed my whole way of lookin at things.

Rating:
Summary: What we've got here is failure to communicate
Review: I adore discovering "forgotten" or little talked about movies from time to time, whether on television, videoclub or old movie theaters. "Ice storm" is one of them. It's simply a hidden gem.

Quite everything and everyone seems to be disfunctional in this movie: Nixon's presidential reign, the family, the parents-children relationships, the coming of age. Not a single character seems to be happy, enjoy himself or having a good time; even in the few funny scenes one doesn't have the feeling that the characters involved in it are getting some pleasure. Their actions aren't simply motivated by the need for sex or their abundant libido; there's a glaring shared desperation for communication between them which seems to be paralyzed by their own dullness and unhappines. There's a cold relationship between almost all of them: the children have no real connection with their parents, the adults on their side having so much problems with each other, agenda oblige.

Every child character seems in desperate need for love, communication and comprehension: "I love you", says one of them. "That's sweet...are you drunk?" answers the other. Every adult character seems unsatisfied with his/her empty life, always in search of what is missing, although they don't seem to know what is missing in their existences. After having consumed an adulterous physical intercourse, one of the characters begins to talk about a serious subject (one of the few times in the movie). "You're boring me...I already have a husband!" answers the other.

This is the tale of some common human beings desperately wanting to love and be loved, and yet permanently in anger, trying to drown their desperation and emotional drought in shoplifting, extra-conjugal relationships or blowing model planes up in flight. "The ice storm" is the undeniable truth with an inevitable ending, no matter what games adults and children play; the ice storm is beautiful and menacing in it's beauty, as one of the characters, marvelled by this beauty, succumbs to it.

Rating:
Summary: Frozen Hearts
Review: After the huge success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", audiences are watching closely Ang Lee's works, but they should better see his previous works, like this "The Ice Storm", to find out that his latest is not a fluke. By the way, this film is one of the most underrated film of 1997.

"The Ice Storm" follows a couple of days in the lives of two ordinary American families which happen to be very related in many senses. In 1973, these people will experience love, discoveries, pain and death. The '70s are known as the decade of the dialogue, but the film is very silent and the characters don't talk very much. Sometimes, when a problem does not have a solution the only thing to do is stay quiet. And they do it all the time.

The movie tackles subject very common by that time. All the characters seem to be dealing with sex somehow. The teens are starting to touch their bodies and also their friends'. The adults look so bored that having sex is meaningless no matter whom they do with. Even a 'car key party' does not help them to feel much more excited.

Lee's direction is discreet and effective. The photography goes very fine with the temperature of the characters' feelings. It's so effective that even you being in your warming home can feel the cold breeze freezing your skin. It's frightening to see how damaging frozen water can be. Michael Danna's score helps to make the audience feels cold, as the people in the movie. The cast is flawless, mainly Chistina Ricci, Tobey Maguire and Elijah Wood. The script wirtten by David Schamus-- based upon Rick Moody's novel --was awarded in Cannes and is very impressive -- even tough some of the most painful parts of the novel were left out.

The title ice storm that falls nearly the end of the picture is merciless. And its results, devastating. It seems to reach every character's heart somehow. Nevertheless, there are no easy solutions -- or even any solution -- to the edgy situation they are living. So they will have to live with their frozen hearts forever. The closing sequence is a punch in the stomach. And David Bowie's "I Can't Read" makes this punchs be even harder.