“The Ice Harvest” is one of those movies I caught parts of when it played on The Movie Network in the mid-2000s. Then, I had to go somewhere and I never finished it. For some reason, these films have more nostalgia for me because I can’t remember how they end, but with “The Ice Harvest,” the decade-later answer isn’t that fulfilling.
The film stars John Cusack as a shady lawyer, Charlie Arglist, who takes $2 million from his mafia boss employer with a strip club owner, Vic Cavanaugh (Billy Bob Thornton). There’s a laugh early on when Charlie wants to take the money but Vic thinks it’s better in his hands. It’s also established well throughout the film that Charlie’s the idea man, the one who dreams about doing this heist, and Vic is the action man—the one who actually has the courage to help make this happen. After Charlie has taken the cash and gets out to the car, he says, “My God, we’re actually doing this.” Vic replies, “No, we’re not doing it. It’s already done.” The stage is set well enough with these character dynamics in a film that takes place in an ice storm on Christmas Eve.
It’s foremost a mob movie but also a Christmas film by default. It doesn’t have any of the traditional Christmas cheer, but has all the cynical cheer that embodies the characters of Ebenezer Scrooge or The Grinch. This film’s mantra is a line written in Sharpie on several bathroom walls: “As Wichita Falls, so falls Wichita Falls.” A sort-of “all that could go wrong will go wrong,” or The Grinch’s equivalent of wrestling with his own-self loathing. Its cynical tone matches its flat Wichita, Kansas setting (sorry, Wichita). But the film very much feels like Harold Ramis trying to do “Fargo,” but lacks any of the bite or character work of a Coen Brothers movie.
The story is simple and stays simple throughout, although it throws twists and turns out there as we learn no character can be trusted. I don’t think that’s a spoiler with the kind-of film this is as everyone is like Ebenezer Scrooge, driven by their own greed and self-interest.
John Cusack in a scene from “The Ice Harvest” (Focus Features, 2005).
The performances are at least solid, though, as John Cusack gives this his usual and Connie Nielsen portrays the femme fatale perfectly (the cinematography by Alar Kivilo in one scene with the lights just on Nielsen’s eyes is memorable). Oliver Platt is also a highlight as a drunken buffoon who’s now married to Charlie’s ex-wife. Billy Bob Thornton plays his best here—he knows the balance of cynicism to bring, having played the titular character in the mean Christmas movie “Bad Santa.” I like Vic most because he knows what he must do to get things done. I like the turns that his character takes, especially as it plunges deeper into its dark comedy.
The film gets dark, but it’s hard to call it comedy when the laughs are lacking. It’s a comedy because nothing goes Charlie’s way (“As Wichita Falls, so falls Wichita Falls”), but I watched this yesterday and I can’t recall any belly laughs. Maybe a couple chuckles, sure, but nothing great.
The funniest thing about this film is not a joke, but a reveal: Charlie works for a mob boss called Bill Guerrard and everybody speaks about him in hushed tones because of his power. I won’t spoil who plays the character, but it’s the last person I would have expected. Thinking about this actor doesn’t shout “threatening” or “power,” so it’s a fun little performance and this casting is the only risk this film takes.
I like some of the film’s style and tone, and it’s not bad filmmaking because Harold Ramis is a good director. It’s not a bad movie, and if you want a mob film that makes you feel as cold as Wichita, Kansas, this fits that very specific taste. The story is just too simplistic and while the plot throws twists at you, they’re predictable and it makes “The Ice Harvest” feel so safe. That’s the only bad thing about this—it doesn’t do anything memorable with its intriguing set-up.
