"The Ice Harvest," a comedic thriller directed by Harold Ramis, has all the makings for success: strippers and Mafiosos as well as John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton. Unfortunately, the plotlines in this Christmas Eve caper are staler than leftover Thanksgiving yams, leaving a marginally amusing, violent mafia movie for audiences to chuckle at this holiday season.
It's Christmas Eve and Charlie Arglist (Cusack), a depressed, divorced lawyer, steals over two million dollars from mob boss (and his actual boss) Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid). The theft stems from Charlie's attempt to find any way out of his lonely life, in which he has failed as a father and husband. His partner in crime is steely Vic Cavanaugh (Thornton), a seasoned, morally deficient thief who has failed in all the same areas and seems to care less about his failures than Charlie does.
Charlie and Vic plan to split the money and leave icy Wichita, Kansas by daybreak. But you know what they say about the best laid plans: it would be one dull movie if they didn't go awry. Charlie begins to question Vic's intentions as he travels from one seedy strip club to another, fending off Guerrard's cronies and drinking alarming amounts of alcohol while operating a vehicle.
Based on a novel by Scott Phillips, the film takes many twists and turns, the majority of which are of the pretty predictable trust-no-one, film noir kind. A corrupt gangster, a cunning femme fatale, a deceitful partner: all the characters in this film are cookie cutter versions of characters we've seen before. Actors succeed in entertainingly and convincingly playing their parts but are less successful in making them new.
Though there are really no shocking plot twists in "The Ice Harvest," the script is often darkly humorous. Laughs usually come with a grain of guilt, though, as they are often at the expense of others. Representative comedic scenarios include a man being trapped and tortured in a trunk and a woman being killed remorselessly by her husband (it's funnier than it sounds).
Even though he frequents strip clubs, steals and murders, John Cusack is likeable and funny as protagonist Charlie, a sad man who rarely gets to see his children since his wife left him to marry his best friend Pete (Oliver Platt). Though Cusack lays on his usual charm, one can't fight feeling a tinge of deja vu when he is on screen. Charlie's oddly endearing flaws make his character reminiscent of roles Cusack has played before, particularly professional assassin Martin Blank in "Grosse Pointe Blank" (1997).
Thornton is onscreen in far less of the film but is a good fit for the supporting role of Vic. No one is shocked to find Thornton in this role of the no-good conman, and he plays the role convincingly, contributing to many of the most humorous and jarringly violent parts of the film.
The film's real standout is Oliver Platt, who steals every scene he is in. Audiences can't help but laugh at Pete and his drunken musings but also can't avoid the feeling that his scenes do not quite fit with the central plotline. That said, his character's drunken ramblings and outlandishly offensive statements make for the funniest parts of the film, however misplaced they may be.
"The Ice Harvest" isn't a bad movie, it's just one we've seen before. But if violence, naked strippers and alcoholism are what you and the family are in the market for this holiday season, this film will not disappoint.
