The Ice Harvest (Widescreen Edition)
by Harold Ramis
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Actor: Bill Noble, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, John Cusack, Lara PhillipsDirector: Harold Ramis
Brand: NBC Universal
Producer: Albert Berger
Producer: Glenn Williamson
Producer: Jim Fishman
Producer: Laurel A. Ward
Writer: Richard Russo
Writer: Robert Benton
Writer: Scott Phillips
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
Published: 2006-02-01
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-28
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of The Ice Harvest (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: "Charlie, I hate to say this but you're a nice guy"..."I'm sorry to hear you say that..."
Summary: 4 Stars
First a disclosure--this film isn't for everyone. This is sort of the anti-"It's a Wonderful Life". There are always great movies that are lost in the shuffle of holiday releases. Somehow this fine film was overlooked during the holidays. No word of mouth, no buzz and no worthwhile advertising heralded this films arrival. Lucky for you and me we have DVD to save this film from having to be rediscovered in ten or twenty years as one of the funniest film noirs to come out in years and one of the best films of 2005. Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) plots the perfect crime-stealing $2 million from his boss with his partner Vic (Billy Bob Thornton) that goes horribly wrong in this black comedy set on Christmas Eve. Charlie believes that the perfect crime can be committed as long as you have character something that Charlie admits he can't have otherwise why would he be committing this crime? In the meantime he has to deal with his drunk buddy Pete (Oliver Platt) who has married his ex-wife, a lawyer who is being blackmailed for a photo of his indiscretion and a mob heavy looking for him that Charlie suspects knows all about his planned heist. Thank God this project came along as I was afraid that one of our generation's great comedic leading men was going to continue to be wasted in projects like "Must like Dogs". Ramis manages to capture just the right note desperation, comedy and madness that infect all of these unhappy people on what is supposed to be the warmest night of the year.
The chilly surface of the film is captured perfectly here. The cool looking surface of the film mirrors the subject matter. Detail and clarity are exceptional. The 5.1 presentation sounds quite nice but keep in mind that this is a comedy with action not an action comedy. There's a difference-the former focuses primarily on highlighting the dialogue the latter the explosions. The film is available by the way in both a 1.85:1 widescreen and 1.33:1 full screen presentation.
The special features are pretty good. "Cracking the Ice" features screenwriters Robert Benton ("Kramer vs. Kramer", "Places in the Heart"), Richard Russo ("Nobody's Fool," "Empire Falls") and novelist Scott Phillips discussing the creation of the story covering it from a unique angle-from the moment that Philips came up with the idea for the novel through the adaptation process for Ramis' film. Benton discovered the book recommended it to Russo. The three writers interview each other. Interestingly both Benton and Russo thought it was perfect for a film while Phillips felt it was not good material for a film despite the fact that he had spent months previously to writing it working on screenplays.
"Beneath the Harvest" features director Ramis, producer Ron Yerxa, actors Connie Nielsen, John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton discussing what the film is about and what attracted them to the project. Ramis is the most interesting of the group revealing what attracts him to comedies like this (let's just say it's a dark philosophy). Cusack focuses much more on what he liked about playing Charlie his character in the film and what drew him to playing such an unfortunate character. One of my favorite actors Oliver Platt mentions what he feels is the core of the story and what makes it work so well. Interestingly Ramis came to the project AFTER the script was written and admits he went back to read the novel after he read the screenplay. While he loved the screenplay he wanted to see if there was anything the writers had missed (probably the writer in him talking) and found that they had captured it perfectly. It's a solid "making of" featurette although nothing spectacular.
"Analysis of a Scene" is pretty self explanatory discussing the difficulty in creating one scene involving the lake. The scene was central and crucial to the success of the film. Ramis and the producers had their team create a mini-lake that they digitally enhanced for the sequence. They all knew though that they needed to have a physical location to sell the scene beyond the digital enhancements. They used melted paraffin to crate the look of the ice in the scene making it easier (and safer to shoot the sequence). We also have a very funny outtake where Thornton plays the scene in his character of Carl from "Sling Blade".
Ramis provides an amusing blow-by-blow commentary track that's quite amusing. Strangely you can access his commentary tracks via both the special features menu and language but can't turn it off via both menus. The special features are great for this set my only complaint is that you can't turn on and off the commentary track via your remote (something I like to do if I've just watched a scene and want a scene specific commentary) via your remote. Other than that whomever Universal hired to do the special features did a exceptional job overall.
A suspenseful black comedy that lost its way into the glut of holiday releases, we're lucky to have home video to appreciate this terrific black comedy. This is truly a gem of a film. Yes, it's cynical and dark but it's funny as hell. Ramis has crafted the antithesis of "It's a Wonderful Life". It's a tonic for the dark soul and funny bone regardless of the type of year you watch it.
Description of The Ice Harvest (Widescreen Edition)
John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton lead an all-star cast in this hilarious and unpredictable thriller that critics are calling, "very funny stuff" (Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper). When lawyer Charlie (Cusack) and his partner Vic (Thornton) steal from a mob boss, they think they've pulled off the perfect crime. But when they race through a night filled with mayhem, lust and lethal surprises, they realize that the biggest risk they'll take will be trusting each other. From the director of Analyze This and Groundhog Day, The Ice Harvest cracks with outrageous laughs and slippery twists that will keep you guessing until the very end! Starring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Platt, Connie Nielsen, Randy Quaid, Mike Starr Directed by: Harold RamisHoliday movies don?t get much darker, or more darkly humorous, than The Ice Harvest, an offbeat comedy that defies expectations. The involvement of director Harold Ramis might lead some to expect a straight-up comedy like Groundhog Day or Analyze This, but despite Ramis?s fine and atypically subdued work here, it?s the writers (Robert Benton and Richard Russo) who put a stronger stamp on their adaptation of the novel by Scott Phillips. Benton and Russo previously collaborated on Nobody?s Fool and Twilight (with Benton also directing), and those films are similar in tone and spirit to this quirky, modern-day film noir, set on a freezing Christmas Eve in Wichita, Kansas, where mob lawyer Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) has a lot on his mind. He?s just stolen $2 million from his boss (Randy Quaid), he can?t trust his partner Vic (Billy Bob Thornton), he?s secretly in love with the manager (Connie Nielsen) of the strip bar he owns, and his best friend (Oliver Platt, giving yet another terrific performance) is married to his ex-wife. Before the night?s over, several murders will complicate matters even further, and throughout it all, The Ice Harvest is anchored by Cusack?s good-natured presence in a bad-natured story that dares to combine double-crosses and bloodshed with elusive yuletide cheer. It?s a strange but oddly appealing combination, not for all tastes but refreshing for that very same reason. --Jeff Shannon
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