The Ice Storm (1997)
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The Ice Storm Movie Review
The Ice Storm is a 1997 drama film directed by Ang Lee and starring Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Tobey Maguire and Sigourney Weaver. It’s not a great film.
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“The only big fight we’ve had in years is about
whether to go back into couples therapy“
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It follows two dysfunctional upper-class families who are trying to deal with tumultuous social changes of the early 1970s, and their escapism through alcohol, adultery, and sexual experimentation. First and foremost, I hate the seventies and everything that they represent, I absolutely loathe that entire decade, so obviously this was not something intended for me in the first place.
However, it could have tackled its decade in a sophisticated manner and I would have been interested, but they never did that whatsoever, which was unfortunate. Everything here is surface-level, and the film just follows the problems these two families face without ever commenting upon any of those problems. It has nothing of substance to say about the numerous issues springing in this decade, and is thus quite thin.
I also simply did not care for any of these characters. I’ve never felt anything, and I know that it is the point – to portray coldness and emotional distance, but still at least some resonance would have gone a long way for me to appreciate it more.
And the characters are all utterly unappealing, though realistic in their own ways. It’s okay that they are unlikable, but most aren’t all that well developed which bothered me, though some are solid such as Ben and Elena. The acting is the film’s strongest point as it has such an awesome late 90s ensemble cast, truly impressive as it consists of Sigourney Weaver, Tobey Maguire, Kevin Kline, Elijah Wood and even Katie Holmes.
Holmes has never been better than she was here, and Kline and Weaver both delivered some of their career-best performances. But Maguire is forgettable and the same goes for the other players, excluding Joan Allen who is strong herself.
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I did appreciate some of the great shots in The Ice Storm and its tone is interesting at times, though again overly depressing. It definitely has some very intriguing, memorable scenes and moments, but overall the titular storm is very on-the-nose, and the film is very disappointing for me as it’s the rare not great Ang Lee feature.
The Ice Storm has some terrific performances from its truly impressive ensemble cast. Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen and Katie Holmes are the evident standouts. It’s also well shot and it has some memorable moments for sure. But, it has nothing of true substance to say about the nadir that the 1970s decade undoubtedly was, the titular storm is such an on-the-nose metaphor, the movie’s overly depressing and cold in tone, and I simply did not care for its characters whatsoever. It’s a very disappointing Ang Lee feature.
