Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

wavecat13 It is not a pretty picture, but this film really captures something essential about life in the prosperous Connecticut suburbs in the 1970s. The details are spot on (with the exception of a couple of ludicrous sweaters), and I felt transported to that time and place. Here we have a couple of families that appear to have it all, yet below the surface there are big cracks starting to open. Each member of the Hood family gets to be a part of the narrative. There is infidelity, sexual exploration, a fair amount of drinking, and what looks like budding insanity. Things come to a tragic climax over Thanksgiving weekend and a nasty ice storm. The film is enlivened by many wonderful shots and subtle, sardonic humor. Who could forget the "key party" (not a common occurrence, althou the movie acts like it was - lol!) or the Nixon mask scene?

Andrew Ray Years before he hit big with "Brokeback Mountain," Taiwanese-American director Ang Lee released what I consider to be an even better film, 1997's "The Ice Storm." Kevin Kline and Joan Allen play Ben and Elena Hood, a seemingly happily-married suburban couple in 1973 Connecticut. Tobey Maguire and the still teenage Christina Ricci play their children, Paul and Wendy. But alas, all is not as vanilla as it seems, for Ben is having an affair with a neighbor, Janey Carver, played by Sigourney Weaver, in her best (and most vulnerable) performance ever. Ironically, daughter Wendy is sexually experimenting with Janey's son Sandy.The Hoods and the Carvers both attend the same "key party," a form of swinging in which the women draw the men's car keys from a bowl, then sleep with the owner of the keys. Here, Janey's husband, Jim (Jamey Sheridan) realizes his wife is having an affair with their neighbor. He and Elena spend the night together too, then return to find their teenage children in bed with one another. So two families, one affair, and three liaisons. Yes, Kevin Kline stars, but this is not some fraternity-level comedy. This is a serious, heartbreaking dramatic representation of the ashes burned from the sexual revolution of the 1970s – all played against the backdrop of a New England ice storm brewing outside.Those of us too young to participate have a tendency to think of the sexual revolution as some kind of wild, ongoing swingers' party, in which partners were traded and swapped like baseball cards, and those unfortunate enough to be married would certainly play along without feeling any repercussions to the traditional family structure. This is obviously an inaccurate description, and Ang Lee brilliantly illuminates the anguish experienced by many families. I suppose the most distressful relationship of all is that of the sexually-catechizing teenagers. Studies have shown children mimic their parents, and if their parents are sleeping together, well then… The performances are all first-rate, especially Sigourney Weaver, who was nominated for a Supporting Actress Golden Globe award. And it's revealing to watch Christina Ricci at 17 years old, in her first "adult" role. Her Wendy character carries herself with the poise of her mother, yet with the guilelessness of a child. James Schamus' screenplay (a winner at the Cannes Film Festival that year) features some of the most candid and open dialogue I've ever witnessed. Lee smartly refrains from overdirecting – letting his star cast elucidate the material effectively. Kline and Weaver let us into the hearts and souls of their philandering characters, allowing us not so much to judge them, but to feel their pain, as it were. We not only bear witness to their struggles, but we develop a connection to their very souls.Unfortunately, "The Ice Storm" was simply lost in the shuffle of all the great motion pictures of 1997 – the box office champ and critical success "Titanic," Curtis Hanson's "L.A. Confidential," Paul Thomas Anderson's first classic "Boogie Nights," Matt Damon's and Ben Affleck's breakout film "Good Will Hunting," and Dustin Hoffman in "Wag The Dog." Plus Robert Duvall and Peter Fonda turned in the best performances of their long, successful careers with "The Apostle" and "Ulee's Gold," respectively. There simply wasn't room for "The Ice Storm" in the conversation, although it certainly deserves its place on the mantle of the many virtuoso films of 1997. This was one of the finest films of one of the best years ever for motion pictures.

Chris L Ang Lee really managed to grasp the moods, torments, emotions of this gallery of characters and this basically is the greatest satisfaction of The Ice Storm. But what this movie lacks is a real plot and a clearer direction, indeed the scenario resembles a patchwork of disconnected, rather uneven scenes and story lines that are not that productive. There is also too many characters which induces a inevitable dilution of the story, not to mention that the common denominator, the sexual liberation in the 70's, is not the most interesting. Ultimately, the only thing that really stands out in this movie, whose cinematography is excellent by the way, is its genuine sensibility.

TheBlueHairedLawyer The Ice Storm, set in 1973 during the era of the sexual revolution, is much more disturbing and eye-opening than its simple cover and title make it appear. Not only does it star some amazing actors/actresses, but despite the dated and nostalgic setting it has a timeless message: when parents forget their kids are there, well, kids still see, hear - and pick up on - everything adults do. Everyone was a kid at some point, and many of us can recall times when our parents acted more like teenagers than caregivers. The difference is, in The Ice Storm, the carelessness of the fictional parents leads to the horrible death of a little boy.Discos, key parties, drugs, booze, free love, it's all the thing in 1973 as the latest trend. The problem is, that kind of thing spreads to a middle-class community and starts messing up families and friendships. The true sufferers though are the kids. Wendy (Christina Ricci) is only fourteen but enjoys copying her parents' lifestyle, leading to her getting sort of a bad reputation. Libbits is just a kid but left home alone by her parents in a house filled with drugs. Sandy is obsessed with violence, Mikey is hardly noticed and Francis is always getting high.One night during a key party in the neighborhood, every one of the characters learns something shocking about the way the swinger lifestyle is; the sexual revolution isn't all it's cracked up to be. Just when it looks like things might change, one of the younger neighborhood children has gone outside into a deadly ice storm... and it was because, to the parents, he hardly existed until it mattered most of all.The Ice Storm really hits you at the very ending, when one of the parents breaks down crying at the wheel of his car in front of his family. He realizes that their own negligence caused the death of a child, all over a key party, a stupid game for adults who don't want to grow up. Wendy suddenly realizes how childish her behavior has been, and the parents realize that the whole time they were getting after their children for perverse behavior it was all being learned from the parents themselves. Kids pick things up. The Ice Storm is just a lesson for us all, a worst-case-scenario of sorts, set in a time not so long ago.The soundtrack was beautiful, the acting was excellent and the plot was very original (it was adapted into an episode of the show Cold Case titled "The Key"). And while the sexual revolution was several decades ago, today is the tech revolution. Adults are using phones more and more without communicating in anything but texts. Maybe The Ice Storm's message is more universal than meets the eye, because it's true, kids do pick up on their parents' behavior, and it's not always a good thing.