Review: The Ice Harvest


Spineless mob lawyer John Cusack (who nearly makes you like his crummy character) and his soulless partner Billy Bob Thornton steal from Cusack’s boss Randy Quaid on Christmas Eve. Sooo…what do they do now? They have to wait until an ice storm leaves Wichita before splitting the money and leaving for good. Thornton volunteers the money whilst Cusack tries his best not to tell anyone about what they’ve done. Easier said than done when you consider that Cusack is gaga over strip joint owner Connie Nielsen and will do anything to win her favour. Oliver Platt is Cusack’s drunk buddy who is unhappily married to Cusack’s bitter ex-wife. Mike Starr (forever typecast as goons and henchmen) plays a mob enforcer.



Mean-spirited, semi-comedic Harold Ramis (“Groundhog Day”, “National Lampoon’s Vacation”) noir misfire from 2005 contains a lot of good performances, but the screenplay and direction are faulty, which is strange considering the pedigree. Setting the film after the crime has been committed is a foolish misstep, as there’s little left to be interested in while the characters sit around waiting to get caught. Also, characters come in and out of the film for long stretches, and the characters played by Quaid (who has a latter day Orson Welles quality, in the film’s best, scene-stealing turn) and Starr are inadequately used. Quaid in particular only turns up at the 11th hour. Also, Nielsen’s a little affected and blatant as the film’s femme fatale (She ain’t no Barbara Stanwyck!).



Still, it’s watchable, with Cusack and Thornton well-cast, and, typecast as he may be Platt (“A Time to Kill”, “Ready to Rumble”, “Midnight Sting”/”Diggstown”) is very good at playing drunks. He has one rather sad moment where he confesses to Cusack that he can’t ‘do’ his life anymore. That moment stayed with me afterwards, in an otherwise fairly forgettable film. The screenplay is by Richard Russo, and Robert Benton (both of whom worked on “Nobody’s Fool”), from a Scott Phillips novel. Mercifully short, but in some respects, actually should’ve been longer, with more scenes at the beginning (perhaps with more information on how Thornton and Cusack crossed paths).


Rating: C+

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