The Ice Harvest
 

This is the latest from Harold Ramis...and it's unlike anything he's done before. I left the theater with lukewarm sentiments. I thought it was a really good dark comedy, but I just felt like there was something missing. I can't really put my finger on what that something is, but whatever it is, the film would've been better with it.

Cusak and Billy Bob are in the film, doing what they do best. I think Thornton is starting to carve a niche for himself as a star of anti-holiday movies. If you've got a demented family, he'll use this movie to become your household's Tim Allen. Oliver Platt steals the show in this movie. While the film's comedy lags from time to time, anytime he's onscreen, you can expect A+ comedic delivery. I'll recommend this movie for his performance alone. Randy Quaid rounds out the cast, taking his turn at an uber-bad man.

The movie should have something for everybody. There's comedy, drama, and rather shocking (even if not disturbing) scenes of violence. I'm not a huge fan of Analyze This and That, Bedazzled, or Multiplicity...so it's not a stretch for me to say that this is Harold Ramis' best movie since Groundhog Day. Not strongly recommended, but recommended nonetheless. Hits theaters in late November, methinks.

-JP

I didn't think it was all that, I was trying to hard to be like "Fargo"

Oliver Platt on the other hand was a stitch and really stole the movie from the leads.

That's such a weak comparison. Why is it that every dark comedy set in the winter gets compared to Fargo. I've heard that comparison thrown out twice in the past couple of months, with this movie, and with "The Big White." People need to let Fargo go. This film differs from Fargo on so many levels that the comparison is moot from the get-go. As much as I love them (I own all of their movies), the Coen's don't hold a monopoly on dark humor, and they don't hold a monopoly on films set in the dead of winter.

-JP

I just hope its relatively close to the book, which was excellent. If you haven't read it yet, I can't recommend it enough.

Ice Harvest, opinions?
 

I did a search and couldn't find a thread on this movie. I just watched it last night. I liked it though I have some mixed feelings about it. There's just something that bothers me about it that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it was the style of the movie, I'm just not used to it. Overall it was pretty entertaining and since I'm keeping it I guess I do really like it.

There are two alternate endings and I really wish Harlod Ramis kept the ending in which It reminded me a lot of the ending to and it would have been oddly poetic. Sadly he went with a more which sort of negates everything prior to it. If I ever get the equipment and software I believe I'll try and edit the 1st alternate ending into the film, it's much better.

Another thing I liked about the movie is Connie Nielsen, yowsa!

Odd, I was not particularly fond of Connie Nielsen in Ice Harvest, thought she just looked old. And I think I prefer the original ending, I thought it fit well with the rest of the movie. Highly enjoyable, I'm waiting to snag this one on the next PVD sale at Hollywood or Blockbuster.

I didn't care for this one at all (despite the lovely but perhaps miscast Connie Nielsen). I thought it was fair at best and played like a subpar B-movie. Oliver Platt was good, but that's about all I cared for. If someone asked me, I'd direct them towards some classic film-noir instead of "Ice Harvest".

I really liked it. Billy Bob and Cusack were excellent.

I got annoyed by the whole Oliver Platt sub-plot.

i actually hated it. i didn't find it as funny as most and the endiing was so obvious from the opening with the briefcase exchange.

I thought it was mediocre. Harold Ramis is a genius, but this film only cemented my growing impression that he's simply past his prime. Billy Bob Thornton is trying to take a monopoly on Christmas-time antiheroes. Oliver Platt was great. John Cusack was one-dimensional. There were laughs, but not enough. There was suspense, but not enough. There was a bit of everything...but there wasn't enough of anything to make this a great movie. It's a shame, because when it screened at the AFF, nobody had seen it or read any reviews. So we didn't know what to expect, and there was a lot of buzz about a potential return to greatness for Harold Ramis. I think we were all a bit let down.

-JP

I enjoyed it.

Just saw it on DVD last week. It was an okay watch. Just 90 minutes. Entertaining. Good actors.

The best thing on the whole disc, though, was a Billy Bob out-take on the Special Features.

Saw it recently, entertaining film but doubt the replay value would be very good...

it was pretty mild. maybe it tried to be too mny things, a thriller, a black comdey, what have you. i felt it failed in all attempts, but was still watchable, just wasn't "all that" enjoyable. i know, from the features, it was based on a book. but disregarding that, platt felt totally uneeded. i realize his characters relation was changed for the film, but since this was the film and not the book, his character (while appreciated) was totally unneeded and made for a bit of confusion. a idea or two was neat and the same for direction, but not cool or clever enough to "make" the movie.

over all, watchable, but bland and with no real pay off. although, i did like the ending... before the ending. meaning gun vs. knife. the alternative ending i didn't like. it's just possible since it was the ending that i didn't first see. meaning whichever one i first saw i might of liked more. but, never knowing, i liked the more "mass friendly one" since, despite as it tried, john c.'s character never seemed to be as slimey or bad as hinted at and therefore, he was somewhat likeable.

I was dissapointed. Billy Bob was good as usual, Cusak too. But I thought the movie had potential for something better.

I didn't watch the extras so maybe that could have explained something.

An all around just average movie. Everything about it was average. Enjoyable but medicore

Yeah, I agree it is quite watchable, but not much I'd be interested in buying to own and watch over and over. I also think the first alternate ending on the DVD is the best ending, and didn't like the happier ending.

I can't figure out for the life of me why more people don't love this movie. Behind Reservoir Dogs (Kill Bill vol. 2 didn't beat it out for those of you who remembered that thread I made a while back) this may just be second favorite movie of all time.

After thinking about it, I can only come up with one idea why most will not enjoy this film. Basically, if they don't find the subtle humor to be one of the films strongest features they may fall off the wagon in the early going.

But the seclusion of the town, everything happening in one night, the fantasic noir presentation (gotta love that forshadowing of Cusak's tie to Quaid's face), Billy Bob's perfromance, Cusak's performance, Olive Platt (enough said), and of course Ramis' choices for some of the changes from the novel to film translation.

Average plot? I more than 100% agree but this movie is less about plot and more of just having a blast and getting attached to characters who are losers to begin with.

I was at least more than happy to see Scott Weinberg (DVD Talk Reviewer) enjoyed it as well.

You can read Scott's review here:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=20242

I hated it. Really hard for me to sit through. Very sloppy movie. One example was this movie was set in Wichita, Kansas but a few times they were calling it Wichita Falls which is in Texas.

Saw this over the weekend. Wasn't too impressed with it. Simply was expecting more from the cast it had.

Is The Ice Harvest any good?
 

Just bought for $5 Buck at Wal-Mart.

I'm a fan of Cusack, Thornton, and Ramis, so I picked it up. I guess you can call it a very dark comedy. I enjoyed it, the story kept going in different directions then expected.

For $5 you can't really go wrong.

Wow, I didn't know it could be had that cheap. I like the movie real well, and I'm going to grab one tomorrow.

The movie sucks. You should've bought some cheap microwave popcorn with those bills instead and rewatched High Fidelity.

Yeah, I was excited for this but thought it was terrible. But for $5 you can probably afford to watch it and not feel terrible if you don't like it.