The Ice Harvest (15)
Dir. Harold Ramis
Reviewed by Matt Adcock
Ho ho ho, here’s an exert from Charlie Arglist’s (John Cusack) Christmas letter:
“Dear Santa, this year whilst I haven’t been a very good boy, could you please still see to that I get away with the $2million that I stolen from my mob employer?
Yours Charlie ‘loveable hero’ of The Ice Harvest.
Oh and if you could help me survive the vicious schemes of my ‘partner in crime’ Vic (Billy Bob Thornton) and femme fatale Renata (Connie Nielsen) that would be a bonus!”
Yes this is a festive season comic thriller that cracks along ticking all the boxes to make it worth seeing but is never in danger of making it onto anyone’s ‘top 10 film of the year’ list. Except maybe Adrian Summerson who I saw this with… He confessed that he wasn’t getting to see many films so it could creep in by sheer lack of competition!?
Cusack is great (as always), driven by a fatalistic belief that "It is futile to regret. You do one thing, you do another…So what?" – The set up is a good one: can the partners escape with the loot, who will double cross who, will the dopey cop rumble them, will anyone manage to get the girl etc etc.
Ramis directs it all with a sense of style which reminded me of Fargo and although there is very little ‘new’ brought to the table in The Ice Harvest, I’d not hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for some watchable thriller thrills – laced with a very black comic streak.
Poster Quote: “the Ice Man cometh, then he steals $2million and legs it… ”
Darkmatt Rating: ööö (solid stylish and entertaining but no classic)
"faraway, so close... not so easy when your foot is knifed to the floor!?"
Darkmatters: H O M E
No comments:
Post a Comment