The Ice Storm is a 1997 American drama directed by Ang Lee based on Rick Moody's 1994 novel of the same name. The film's cast includes Kevin Kline, Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire, Elijah Wood, and Katie Holmes. The film is set in 1973 in New Canaan, Connecticut and focuses on 2 dysfunctional suburban families over the course of Thanksgiving week.
Ben and Elena Hood (played by Kevin Kline and Joan Allen) drift apart due to Ben’s affair with neighbor Janey Carver (Sigourney Weaver). The Hood and Carver kids are out of school for Thanksgiving break and spend the time experimenting: Janey Carver’s youngest son likes to blow things up around the house; Ben Hoods’ daughter Wendy (Christina Ricci) spends most of her time trying to get boys to have sex with her; then, there's Reverend Phillip Edwards whose alternative views on relationships consists of "group and 1-on-1 therapy sessions.”
The Ice Storm shows how we avoid addressing difficult issues in our lives directly and how we often address these issues indirectly, be it through sex or drugs or other destructive behaviors such as Janey Carver son’s habit of blowing stuff up.
I recently upgraded to blu ray and the images are sharp and the colors are saturated! Frederick Elmes did a great job with the cinematography. The music by Mychael Danna is also great.
This is a movie you can watch and rewatch the same night. The Ice Storm has no action or profanity but is 1 of the most entertaining dramas because of its fast pacing and the fact that its very, very funny, especially the affair involving Ben Hood and Janey Carver. The film feels a lot shorter than its 1:53:00 running time. Of all the directors today, I can think of very few with Ang Lee's ability to bring out the nuances in characters and relationships. He’s done a number of great films but The Ice Storm is probably his best.
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