The Ice Harvest Review
by Homer Yen (homer_yen AT yahoo DOT com)December 2nd, 2005
"The Ice Harvest" -- Cold Tale, Slippery Characters
by Homer Yen
(c) 2005
It looks to be a great Christmas for Charlie Arglist (John Cusack). As a lawyer for the local mob, he's calculative to the point where he has been able to find a way to skim over $2 million from his boss's accounts. That bigwig is the imposing Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid), and Charlie thinks that by the time he figures out what happened, he'll have left town. Charlie's partner in crime is Vic (Billy Bob Thornton). Vic is necessary because while Charlie can strategize with care, he doesn't have the conviction that Vic does to follow-through. Vic is calm and collected yet menacing in his own right. Witness when the two come to a point where they spontaneously must decide who it is that will hold on to the money before they leave town, and you know that Vic will get his way, for better or for worse.
"The Ice Harvest" is a competently-presented movie that looks at the questionable partnership between these two and how a perfect plan unravels when trust begins to disintegrate and their escape plans begin to fall apart. And, when this kind of unraveling happens in a setting of underworld characters, seedy establishments, and mobsters who may or may not know what's going on, the result here is a tense yet darkly droll story.
Much of the escalating unease is a result of Charlie's inability to act natural. He smiles more than normal. He waives the stage rental for a stripper at one of his clubs. He even goes out of his way, (feeling yuletide cheer, I suppose) to help a drunken friend on a night when being incognito would be the best approach. Much of it is also Vic's fault. Because very little is known about him, except for the fact that he is in the pornography business, it's hard to imagine that Charlie can truly trust him because certainly the audience doesn't. But much of the increasing feeling of dread is to be placed on the uncooperative weather. An unexpected icy rain pelts their otherwise peaceful town. The roads are closed and the police seem to be out in force making sure that people stay home. Now, it's not a question of whether mob boss Guerrard will discover their crime but just when he will discover it and how hard will he hit back.
Cusack treads familiar territory in this film-noirish world. He is characteristically likable as a semi-loser in need of redemption. Meanwhile, Thornton is a creepily sullen joy to watch as he tries to assert his mastery of the situation. But for much the film, the two are forced to sit things out. They pass their time nervously in the strip clubs, sordid bars, and other domains that only an unconscionable criminal can love.
In the end, "The Ice Harvest" is a quirky yet efficient offering. It sometimes glimmers with unexpected humor. It sometimes enters the realm of the macabre. But it always manages to keep our interest. It sidesteps the inclusion of over-the-top, colorful characters. And, the dialogue never reaches the kind gangster prose that one may hope for to break up the dour mood. Like the two main characters, they get straight to the point with their no-nonsense approach. I will not comment whether Vic and Pete get the job done. But this film, on its own level, more or less, does.
Grade: B-
S: 2 out of 3
L: 3 out of 3
V: 3 out of 3
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