The Ice Harvest

[Jimbo513]

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The Ice Harvest (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0400525/)

Tagline: Thick Thieves. Thin Ice.

Plot: A dim-bulb lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

Starring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, Randy Quaid and Oliver Platt

Directed By: Harold Ramis

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[dman476]

Yep, definately watching this, tomorrow actually.
Harold Ramis has yet to disappoint me (yes, I know he did Bedazzled - it wasn't great).

[Jimbo513]

I wouldn't get your hopes up. I saw it today and it was dissapointing. By the trailer and buzz I went in expecting a witty, funny little crime movie similar to Ocean's 11 maybe. The movie was plain boring and not funny at all. The funniest part sadly is the scene where the guy is in the trunk and shoots out and Billy Bob says something like "damn I took his gun."

Oliver Platt is semi funny but is only gets like 15 minutes screen time tops. Randy Quaid, who is the fucking man btw, only gets like 10 mins screen time.

I was excited that it was rated R. I was hoping for some good hard R dialouge. Sadly, it didn't deliver. This movie could have been rated PG-13 if you take out a couple F-bombs and the fact that the plot has alot to do with strip clubs.

I give it a 5/10.

[bigred760]

I saw it last week (screening) and it wasn't all that bad. There were some very funny moments involving Oliver Platt and Billy Bob Thornton. It's kind of a mix of film noir and black comedy.

The things that stand our are Oliver Platt's hilarious role, Connie Nielson as the hot femme fatale, and the banter between Billy Bob Thornton, and John Cusack. The three of these keep the movie somewhat interesting. The movie seems to try to pay homage to the great film noirs of the 40s and 50s. While it does do that, it doesn't come off as a great film noir flick - mainly because of Olvier Platt's presence. Comedy does not make for good film noir.

But I still enjoyed the flick - it's not great, but the performances are good, the story is pretty straight forward, and the ending has kind of a nice touch.

7/10

[dman476]

eh, saw it today. UNIMPRESSED, some funny moments. Nothing too special, not very funny and pretty average. A bad imiation of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, it doesn't pull it off well, and it's not a Holiday film. Not great, passable, but not worthy of more than a 6/10.

[Mr. Durp]

yeh, saw this one the other day. i'd give it around a 6/10 too.

very unimpressed. i was going into this not quite expecting as much as hoping that harold ramis could make a dirty, witty dark comedy. not since "groundhog day" has ramis made a movie i've adored. this one didn't do it for me.

oliver platt and billy bob provided the only humorous moments for me, and they didn't have nearly enough screen time. and the advertising for this made it seem as if randy quaid had a bigger role - dissapointed to only see him in one scene. the female lead was good, and so was cusack (though not nearly as memorable as previous roles), but i really didn't care about them all that much.

this movie wasn't bad at all, but it wasn't really good either. it was just okay. i don't really feel anything about it, which always leaves me a somewhat unfulfilled. going into this with an R rating had my hopes up, but it was just strip club settings and f-bombs. if you're looking for a dirty, funny holiday flick, wait til this one til is out on dvd and rent "bad santa" instead.

[ilovemovies]

This movie was not what I was expecting because it is being falsely marketed as a comedy. But despite being amusing from time to time it's not really a comedy at all. But I liked it. Nothing great but very enjoyable. And I actually thought there were some surprises in the movie.

[Lazy Boy]

7/10

Equal parts Groundhog Day (man can't seem to escape podunk town) and Grosse Pointe Blank, this is an abashedly irreverent and touching look at a small town lawyer with big dreams and hopes -- yet, like every noir that precedes this, things don't always go according to plan. John Cusack is a tight bundle of nerves, but show great depth in his best performance in years. This is such a well made film that you can't help but wish it were a great well made film, but it's solid craftsmanship nonetheless, despite some predictable turns and dead ends.