User reviews

Set in upscale, suburban New Canaan, Connecticut in 1973, The Ice Storm (based on a novel by Rick Moody) is a scathing social criticism of the values and ideals of upper-class American society during that time period. With the background for the movie being the Nixon Watergate scandal, the corruption is portrayed as extending all the way into the American Home through a short glimpse into the lives of two families: The Hoods and the Carvers.

Both families have two children (Carvers: two sons, Hoods: one son, one daughter), and appear perfectly normal and supportive at first glance. However, through a series of common experiences, and through the way the families struggle to communicate both within and with one another, it becomes clear there are deeply rooted problems. Director Lee uses the children to exemplify the failures of the parents, and their mistakes reflect heavily and harshly on the adults in their lives. The adults also make their own mistakes, and these are depicted as far worse - for as adults, they should know better. Their struggles in dealing with their children are at times almost comical, and show their lack of proper parenting skills. As a criticism, this structure is flawless, comprehensive, and unrelenting throughout. Except for a few fleeting scenes, the irresponsibility of the adults dominates the screen.

Of course, all these events are building up to a climax of epic proportions. The saying, "a stitch in time saves nine," comes to mind when discussing this movie. Had any of the adults taken the proper steps of good parenting anywhere along the way, the events that unfold would not have occurred. Like the failed parenting of the adults, however, it's too little, too late. Bad parenting, selfishness, lavishness, sexual promiscuity, greed, lack of communication, and foolishness lead these adults to make mistakes within their lives, the lives of their children, and the lives of their friends. And come the closing credits of this incredibly well directed, well acted film, they are the ones left to pick up the pieces.

"Ice Storm" not only describes the weather in the Connecticut countryside but is also a metaphor for the pall which hangs over a pallid and dysfunctional middle-class suburban family of four in the 1970s. Sporting a stellar cast with Ang Lee at the helm, this well crafted, sensitive, artful production takes the audience into four lives outwardly living the "American Dream" while inwardly existing in a state of empty unfulfillment and quiet desperation. The tedious and laconic nature of the film may lose the less patient audience while those with a taste for psychodrama should enjoy it.

The difference between adolescence and adulthood can be defined in terms of years or age, but when it comes right down to it, the only real difference is in the experiences the added years provide. As we mature, we are at some point confronted with the realization-- some sooner, some later-- that age and experience do not necessarily equate to satisfaction and personal identity in our lives, the two things we are all, though perhaps subconsciously, striving to attain. But it's an elusive butterfly we're chasing; and at a certain age, the lack of fulfillment in one's life may be dismissed out-of-hand by some as a midlife crisis in a feeble attempt to justify certain actions or attitudes. Attaching such a label to it, however, is merely simplifying a state of being that seems to be perpetually misunderstood, and we resort to using psychological ploys on ourselves in order to rationalize away behavior that is often unacceptable in the cold light of reason and morality. This, of course, is not a unique situation, but an inevitable step one takes upon reaching an age at which the awareness of mortality begins to set in, which is something we all have to deal with in our own way, in our own time. And it's an issue that lies allegorically at the heart of director Ang Lee's pensive, insightful drama, `The Ice Storm,' in which we discover that-- more often than not-- the adult we become is nothing more than an extension of the adolescent; we may shed the skin of youth, but the awkward confusion and uncertainty remains, albeit manifested in different ways, to which for awhile we may respond in opposition even to our own conscience, creating a double standard in our lives which only serves to exacerbate the confusion and unhappiness, leaving us alone to face the cold and frozen landscapes of our own soul.

Working from an insightful and intelligent screenplay by James Schamus (who also wrote Lee's `Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and `Eat Drink Man Woman,' among others), Lee has crafted and delivered a lyrical and poetic-- though somewhat dark-- film that tells the story of two neighboring families living in Connecticut in the early ‘70s: Ben and Elena Hood (Kevin Kline and Joan Allen) and their children, Paul (Tobey Maguire) and Wendy (Christina Ricci); and Jim and Janey Carver (Jamey Sheridan and Sigourney Weaver) and their children, Mikey (Elijah Wood) and Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd). And it's a story to which many will be able to relate on a very personal, individual level, as it reflects an issue common to us all-- that of trying to make a tangible connection with someone or something in our life that we can hold on to and take comfort in. Ben and Elena have grown apart; she has distanced herself emotionally and sexually from Ben, and unfulfilled, she longs again for the freedom of her spent youth, while Ben seeks solace in an emotionally vapid but physically satisfying relationship with another woman. Jim, who spends much of his time on the road, has become completely disconnected from his entire family; his children are apathetic to his very presence, and Janey exists in a constant state of promiscuous numbness, yet cold and indifferent to her own husband.

The Hood and Carver children, meanwhile, are suffering the pains of adolescence and trying to figure out the world in which they live, exploring their feelings with and for one another and attempting to understand the whys and wherefores of it all. And to whom can they turn for guidance in an era that's giving them Nixon and Watergate, new age spiritualism and self-absorbed parents who teach one thing and do another?

The story unfolds through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Paul, whose meditations on the literal and figurative ice storm that descends upon the two families over a long Thanksgiving weekend forms the narrative of the film. And it's through Paul's observations that Lee so subtly and effectively presents his metaphor, in which he captures the beauty, as well as the ugliness, that inexplicably coexists within and which surrounds the turbulence and turmoil of the Hood's and Carver's world, which is ultimately visited by tragedy as their drama proceeds to it's inevitable climax. It's sensitive material that will undoubtedly touch a nerve with many in the audience, and Lee takes great care to present it accordingly, with a studied finesse that makes it an emotionally involving and thoroughly engrossing drama.

Lee also knows how to get the best out of his actors, and there are a number of outstanding and memorable performances in this film, beginning with that of Kevin Kline. Kline does comedy well, but he does drama even better, as he proves here with his portrayal of Ben. The final scene of the film, in fact, belongs to Kline, as it is here that we discover the true nature of the man he is in his heart of hearts. It's a superb piece of acting, and one of the real strengths of the film.

Joan Allen also turns in a strong performance through which she reveals the insufferable inner conflict that so affects Elena's life, and especially her relationship with Ben. And it's in Allen's character, more than any of the others, that we see how fine the line is between the adult and the adolescent. It is not unusual to find a bit of the mother in the daughter; but Allen shows us through Elena just how much of the daughter is actually in the mother, which underscores one of the basic tenets of the film. It's a performance that should've earned Allen an Oscar nomination at the very least.

Also turning in performances that demand special attention are Maguire, Ricci, Wood and especially Jamey Sheridan, whose portrayal of Jim is one of his best-- it's believable, and totally honest. Penetrating and incisive, `The Ice Storm' is remarkably poignant and absorbing; without question, it's one of Lee's finest films. 10/10.

I went to see this film with one of my friends, in a cinema I had never been to before. It was one of those rare and delightful experiences where you are the only people in the theatre. No one around to distract you. No kids munching on crisps, or couples quietly muttering sweet nothings, or idiots trying to tell the characters what to do. It was great.

The film was just brilliant. It really nearly broke my heart. Every performance is perfect. The direction by Ang Lee is deliberate and painful as he slices into you with the lives of those he makes you watch. It looks amazing, in a beautifully bleak way. It is also one the most compelling and painful movies that I have ever come across. The family life portrayed is messed up and all the relationships that are displayed are disfunctional on some level or other. But still I was forced to care for them - all of them. Such is the brilliance of the acting and the script writing.

I own this film, but I can't watch it alot. Once a year is just enough. It's to traumatic and beautiful to watch more than that.

I am deeply touched. I can not believe it took me 7 years to get to see this movie. It goes straight into my top ten.

The movie is based on Rick Moody's 1994 novel about the life of two suburban families in New Canaan, Connecticut during the time of the Watergate scandal: A time of sexual liberation and of disintegration of existing social norms and of the nuclear family. The characters may stand as symbols of the kind of people that are created out of a society with decreasing social norms. They are ordinary people who live in material welfare, bored, unhappy, confused, scared of conflicts, and constantly seeking something else than they already have.

Instead of being examples to their children, the parents are constantly trying to run away from their own emotional confusion for instance by seeking casual sex and thereby hurting each other. In the meantime the children are left to their own upbringing, watching bad TV shows, emptying their parents' drinks, blowing up toys on the balcony, shoplifting, experimenting with sex and drugs. The communication between parents and children is terrible, or should I say non-existing. They all live in their separate worlds, all the time more disconnected, until a tragedy caused by a natural disaster finally calls them back to life and, hopefully, makes them look beyond themselves and see how valuable and fragile life is. May this provoke back the belief in what the family as a unit can do for each other if they stand together?

The movie is both uncomfortable and at the same time enormously satisfying to watch – perhaps because the theme is presented in such a human and recognizable manner. The dialogue is great and there are even very funny scenes at times. These people seem so real and so fragile, like you and me. It is as if we can see right through their souls and their pain.

The cast is brilliant (except for that irritating Katie Holmes with her cheap Hollywood teenage series look). I have never seen a movie plenty of child actors acted out as professionally and convincing as this one. Christina Ricci is the best and Elijah Wood is also excellent (much more enjoyable than in LOTR), making me wish they were young again so they could have more roles in movies like this.

The atmosphere caused by the weather gives a kind of somber mood stressed by the dimmed colors and the mystical music score.

'The Ice Storm' is an incredibly bleak and dark film set in the 70s about two connected families during the holiday break of Thanksgiving. The first family consists of Ben (Kevin Kline) and Elena (Joan Allen), and their two kids -- 16-year-old Paul (Tobey Maguire) just home from boarding school, and 14-year-old Wendy (Christina Ricci) a wannabe anti-war/anti-Nixon elitist who is coming to terms with her own sexuality. The second family consists of Janey (Sigourney Weaver) whom Ben is having an affair with, her husband Jim (Jamey Sheridan), and their two boys -- the neurotic intro-vert Mikey (Elijah Wood) and his younger shy pyro-maniac brother Sandy (AdamN Hann Byrd). The film takes place during Thanksgiving day and the day after in the lives of these people -- including Ben and Elena's marriage being put to the test at a swinger's party with Janey and Jim, Paul's love conquest in New York City with a girl from boarding school named Libbets (Katie Holmes), and Wendy's sexual misadventures with Mikey and Sandy both.

'The Ice Storm' is an incredibly powerful and relevant ensemble piece about the complexity of family and relationships both sexual and non-sexual. Ang Lee once again proves he is a director of great skill and exquisite understanding of human emotions, and James Schamus provides a harrowing and painfully realistic screenplay. Kevin Kline delivers yet another near-flawless dramatic performance, while Sigourney Weaver is great in her interesting yet limited role. The children of the ensemble cast (Maguire, Byrd, Wood, Ricci, Holmes, Krumholtz) are all excellent, especially Christina Ricci who owns her role. However, the real scene-stealer in my eyes is the marvelous Joan Allen who plays her role with such intensity and elegance that I'm shocked she didn't receive a Best Actress Oscar Nomination.

In conclusion, 'The Ice Storm' is a powerful little movie that's interesting yet not exciting. It isn't groundbreaking by any standards, but it's incredibly well-made. 'The Ice Storm' was totally ignored at the '98 Oscar Ceremony, but that comes to no enormous surprise. It was competing in the same year 'L.A. Confidential', 'Boogie Nights', 'Amistad', 'The Sweet Hereafter', 'As Good as It Gets' and the dreadfully overrated 'Titanic' were. A small little character study like 'The Ice Storm' didn't stand a chance. If you can appreciate a movie like this, I highly recommend this oldie I just got around to seeing. Grade: A-

Thanksgiving weekend in Connecticut in 1973, two families work through their problems. Talk about dysfunctional families! This one has two such clans, and every member of each family is assigned an issue (kleptomaniac, sex addict, social misfit, absentee parent, depression, etc.). It makes for a very contrived drama. The impressive cast manages to overcome some of the shortcomings of the script, but it all seems so heavy-handed. As a couple whose marriage has fizzled, Kline and Allen come off the best. The makeup department went a little overboard trying to evoke the 1970s look, with Weaver looking particularly odd as a woman who's cold as ice.

I was astonished to find out how many bad reviews in this site for "Ice Storm" here. I voted 9 out of 10 without hesitating. I've seen this movie twice, and the 2nd time was even more disturbing in a remarkable sense, which compelled me into a deep thinking mode. Phillip, (on the message board), you're so right! `Ice Storm' was indeed a gem that entitles equally what "American Beauty" has earned. Both movies were focusing on the American mid-class's love lives, their middle-aged marriage crisis, and teenagers beguiled by sex. `Ice storm" was filmed in a musically melancholic tune than `American Beauty'. It's about life, brutally honest, and objective. It's about the rotten love lives of average American couples, inwardly, those who would dare to break the rules, for exchanging a moment of stealing pleasure, such as Sigourney Weaver; Kevin Kline, who has surrendered to sexual seduction; Jane Ellen, Kevin Kline's wife, frustrated by the dysfunctional marriage, yet tuning away from sexual liberation. Sadly, the victims of typical contemporary Hollywoodia pace has found `Ice Storm' a `slow and dull' movie that makes them yawning. Why not simply obtain satisfactions over weeping for an affected Hollywood's love tale `Titanic'. Other noteworthy, is the music scores of `Ice Storm' is depressing, enchanting, very beautiful.

1973, suburban Connecticut: middle class families experimenting with casual sex, drink, etc., find their lives out of control.

Film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both gave the film Two Thumbs Up, with Gene Siskel calling it the best film of the year, and Roger Ebert calling it Ang Lee's best film yet. Siskel was probably overstating things, while Ebert was probably right. Even now (2015), this remains a largely overlooked film despite Lee's direction and the many actors who were big or have since become bigger.

Personally, I really liked the comic book (Fantastic Four) angle, and wish this had played a bigger role. But I will take what I can get and I think it was well done.

The summary statement I write I mean as a compliment. In short, this film will keep you up thinking about the characters, the whole swarm of tragedy sewn into these characters, as it is a true look at American familial dysfunction. It's also the Chinese-directed cousin of American Beauty- in some ways just as compelling (if maybe a little more heavy on the metaphors)- and by the end of it, however down and drained the film made me feel, I knew I'd seen my favorite Ang Lee film thus far. He takes the subject matter- the script by James Schamus, and the nuanced performances- and makes it so that we feel for these people, however trapped into their upper-middle class walks of life. The ice theme does work for a good lot of the film, and even when it gets hammered down to the line, I was still moved by how these families intertwined, the bleakness but also the little bits of light coming through.

In fact, the film shares a good deal with American Beauty- two families, both fairly screwed up, with infidelity, drugs, procrastination, young lust, and a certain pining for the old days going steadily down the tubes. One family are the Hooods (Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Christina Ricci and Tobey MaGuire); the other are the Carvers (Sigourney Weaver, Elijah Wood, Henry Czerny, and Adam Hann-Byrd). Either side has their share of dilemmas, psychological cramps, and just total aimlessness. The performances from all are unique and quiet, desperate, and at least a few (in tune with the 'ice' theme), in particular Weaver, Wood and Allen, are numbed. Basically, there isn't as much story as there is attention to the fates and parallels of the characters.

Among the lot though, Kline has some of his best work to date, with his controlling demeanor masking something very insecure; Hann-Byrd and Wood are totally complimentary, so to speak, in that they work well at being brothers of the same weird seed; Allen, not much more to say that hasn't been said by others; and even smaller roles filled by Katie Holmes and David Krumholtz are worth the time. There stories all lead up to the big chunk of the story (ala the 'day you die' stuff in American Beauty), and at times it's painful, cringe-inducing, darkly amusing, and at the end hitting notes that had me eyes go wide. And the ending, when it comes, is sentimental, but never unrealistic. This is the kind of tone that Lee would also use for Brokeback Mountain, but here it contains even more depth and intrigue into the dysfunction, ironically in only the span of a few days vs. the span of twenty years in Brokeback.

You may, whether you like the film or not, will want to talk about it once it is over. It of course can be argued, and I would argue it, that the 'ice' motif is pushed to as far as it can go, and then some (then again it IS called the Ice Storm). But in contrast, another minor theme is handled superbly, involving the Fantastic Four comic book that Maguire's character gives some narration about. By looking through an abstract of a comic book, there's some extra meaning that can be put into the film, the power that can be taken away from superheroes as well as the enclosed New Canaan citizens. Along with some great 70's era period use- the Nixon/Watergate stuff adding another layer to the frustration (leading up to a truly disturbing moment involving a Nixon mask)- including music, creates a very impressive atmosphere. Maybe I'll check out the film again, when it's not past midnight, though even after hours the film packs a small wallop. 9.5/10

The Ice Storm is sad look at suburban life in the 1970s and shows the obsession of 40-something couples with sex. In this suburban Connecticut neighbourhood, they covet their neighbours' wives and husbands. Yet no one seems to be getting any real pleasure out of the experience. Their children are growing up in this environment with parents who don't seem to want to talk about sex to their kids but want to experience it for themselves. So the children are coming into young adulthood with the same fixation. The people in this movie would have married in the 1950s and by the 1970s were realizing that they missed out on the permissive generation of the 1960s and are making up for lost time. The children are in their early to mid teens and at the age where the yearning for sexual contact begins but the parents don't approve so it is carried out secretly, just like the parents. The backdrop to this generation of adults and their children is the Nixon era where political misconduct is blatant. We see Nixon the TV screens defending himself. Clearly hypocrisy is not limited to the sexual conduct. The key party towards the end shows how illusory our dreams of pleasure can be. The movie has a certain value in showing how destructive the adults' lives are, particularly in the final scene with a bizarre accident. It seems like this is what it takes to bring people back in touch with reality. Life is short. Let's not mess it by chasing illusions of satisfaction.

In a small town from Connecticut, several families seem to go through some sort of mid-life crisis. Seeming unable to find their welfare, the adult members start acting strange, almost searching for a new life, while their kids, who are in need of guidance are completely ignored, leaving them free to do whatever they desire, no matter how wrong it might be.

It's a very odd movie which tries to present something special but ends up telling boring and ordinary adventures of ordinary people which tend to exit their ordinary life in search of something else. To be honest, I really don't understand its high rating. It presents absolutely nothing impressive, just a series of apparently random events which make more or less sense by people who seem to have mostly lost their mind. Almost every action they undertake is either simple and boring or stupid and without any logic. Not to mention the kids here, who seem a bunch of misfits, gathered together just to have something for the movie. It really is boring as hell, you don't get to see anything interesting, anything that may catch or attention or which might, at some point, bring even a tiny bit of suspense. I really am puzzled by the fact that somebody can consider this one a very good film. The characters a boring, the action is boring and even the finale doesn't bring anything to the film. It just ends, as abruptly as it starts. Almost pointless…

The way I see it, it's a movie which has a series of boring and ordinary events and considers that if you bring something more or less controversial into the story, like an affair, some random stealing or some random sexual desires, you can make something great in the end. It doesn't bring anything interesting, it just creates drama from something dull and ordinary and expects the viewer to be amazed by its events.

THE ICE STORM (1997) ****

Starring: Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, and Katie Holmes Director: Ang Lee 113 minutes Rated R (for strong sexual content, and for drug use & language)

By Blake French:

Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm" is such a provocative and unsettling experience that it made Gene Siskel's top movie of 1997. Since then, Siskel has recently passed away. But Being an avid film reviewer and buff, I thought that it would be appropriate for me to screen "The Ice Storm" for a second time, this time in full awareness of Siskel's thoughts on the film. After careful inspection, I think that I agree with my favorite movie critic's opinion, and feel obligated to post a review explaining why.

Watching "The Ice Storm" is a unique occurrence. Movie's don't get this powerful every time one visits a local multiplex. The story is basically a series of sins and involvement's that dig the characters deeper and deeper into an emotional crater.

The time period is about thirty to forty years ago. Kevin Kline and Joan Allen are Ben and Elena Hood. They have a son whose 16, Paul, and a sexually confused 14 year old daughter named Wendy. This is not a happy family and the film never pretends otherwise.

Ben is having an adulterous affair with his neighbor's wife, Janey Carver. Her husband, Jim, is pretty much unsuspecting, but Ben's wife is dubious of her mysteriously acting spouse. The Carvers also have teenage children named Mikey and Sandy. Mickey is ready to explore a sexual underworld with Wendy, and she is prepared to experiment with whoever comes down her path first.

Elena is caught stealing from a local party store one day and that triggers an effect that causes her to react openly to her husband about his involvement's with Janey Carver. When Ben and Elena visit a wife swapping party where the guests put their keys in a dish to see who an individual will sleep with, things become even more adulterous with the Carvers.

The film is propelled by unique, one of a kind performances by all the actors in the cast. Sigourney Weaver, receiving a best supporting actress nomination for her performance, is superb, in a slutty, whorish kind of a way. Joan Allen is also perfection delivering a sense of egresses and desire without ever speaking that much. Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, and Adam Hann-Byrd all act well as the teens. Basically all the one screen appeal of "The Ice Storm" is top class.

But there is something more than just the on screen appeal with this movie. Something that allows the audience to experience a feeling of confusion along with the characters. We can become so involved in the story because all the story consists of is a pile of heavy sins. We feel the character's needs. Relate to the issues. Things happen that struck me so profoundly that I find myself listing the film on my list of top 100 movies of all time. In the last scene of "The Ice Storm" a key character brakes down and cries like a baby, with his family next to his side. We look back at all the wrongdoing he has done, at all the sins he has committed, and all the reasons he has to cry, and we fell his pain--and somewhere, deep down, we try to forgive him.

Eight stars. All of Ang Lee's movies are family dramas. That's just as true for Hulk as it is for The Ice Storm. And the thing that makes his movies worth watching is his ability to look honestly at all the strengths and foibles that make up how families interact. Many people, viewing the film today, will miss the importance of the time-frame. This is a period piece, made in the late 90s, but happening in the early 70s. That's essential for understanding why the adults act the way they do. These are people who got married in the late 1950s, and then had society turn itself on it's head while they weren't looking. So here they are with kids that they don't (CAN'T) understand, and feeling like they missed all the fun that people ten years younger than them were having. So they cheat. Bumblingly, like the Kevin Kline character. Or clinically, like the Sigourney Weaver character. Or only in their hearts, like the Joan Allen character. The smartest of their kids (the Cristina Ricci character) sees this, and sees the essential hypocrisy of their lives. Her brother (Maguire) is the one that's stuck in the Phantom Zone. He's just trying to get laid, and, in the process, manages to miss the catastrophe the rest of his family and their neighbors participate in. Props to Elijah Wood and that kid from Jumanji for their roles as Ricci's muses, and for providing the means to drag all those lost adults back to some sort of center. 27 November 2023.

In The Ice Storm (1997), Ang Lee takes us to a Thanksgiving holiday in 1973, in the midst of the Watergate scandal, and introduces us to two troubled families, whose only commonality that the parents share with their children is an interest in seeking sexual experiences.

Ben Hood (Kevin Cline) is married to Elena (Joan Allen) and has two children Paul (Tobey Maguire) and Wendy (Christina Ricci). The story focuses on the city of New Canaan in Connecticut in the year 1973. Therefore, the work is dated, a situation that is not hidden at any time. Ben and Elena are neighbors with Jim Carver (Jamey Sheridan) and Janey (Sigourney Weaver) and parents of Mikey (Elijah Wood) and Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd).

Before Paul Tomas Anderson used expansive metaphors to denote the mood of his characters in Magnolia, Ang Lee had already made use of this resource in the film Ice Storm (The Ice Storm, USA 1997). The tape, only the Taiwanese director's second foray into American cinema, is an elaborate study of the transformations that have befallen American society. The film, set in the 1970s, captures exactly the tram of the cultural revolution (and the strong inherent sexual component) that swept the world in general and the US in particular.

The plot is based on themes dear to Lee's cinematography (he would return to approach this period of American history, under another prism in the less successful It Happened at Woodstock). There is the clash between effervescent liberalism and stoned conservatism, the collapse of family traditions and sex as a catalyst for personal change. An ice storm catches a family in shambles. The Hood family (composed of characters from Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Tobey Maguire and Cristina Ricci) is experiencing that defining moment that is common to American family dramas. But in an Ang Lee film, these dramas take on unlikely contours. Sexual games, betrayals, alcoholism and all the dysfunctions that can affect a family based on values that begin to be questioned.

Ice Storm works with different story arcs throughout its narrative, something very similar to what filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson presents in Magnolia and so many other directors usually do in their works, as is the case of Babel, by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The difference is that Ang Lee was still starting to work in the North American film market to build his career and took a chance on a complicated plot full of details and subtleties. Fortunately, he didn't get complicated and managed to highlight all the characters.

One of the characters that draws the most attention is Wendy, played by Christina Ricci. Aware that her parents' relationship is in crisis, the teenager uses her time to follow Nixon's downfall on television and tell painful truths about the Indians in the middle of lunch. Wendy also plays with the brothers Mikey and Sandy, both in love with her and willing to participate in those "innocent" sexual experiences of those who are curious to discover the other's body. Wendy seems devoid of emotions and manipulates each of the brothers seeking only to satisfy their own curiosity and forget about their home about to fall apart.

We also follow the arc of Paul (Tobey Maguire), who appears right away as a young stoner with a "friend" who "steals" all the girls he falls in love with. The boy has a crush on a young woman (Katie Holmes) and even believes he'll get along this time, but ends up stuck in the (damn) friend zone when she says he's like a brother.

In the adults' arc, it is interesting to observe a primitive version of what would become swing or the exchange of couples in an infamous "key party". Each man leaves his car key in a jar and at the end of the party, the women take one of these keys and return "home" to its owner. Ice Storm takes place exactly at the time when the cultural revolution, with sexual freedom on the rise, began to change people's behavior forever. The idea of having sex with someone out of wedlock, and with consent, is exciting to this hypocritical suburban group. Men act like hyenas about to find good food (including whining when a fat woman chooses one of the keys) and women are simply reveling in the chance to do something different. In this, the Hood couple - who are experiencing a crisis caused by Elena's lack of sexual interest and Ben's extra-marital affair with Janey - are one of the few who are uncomfortable with the situation.

Elena, played by Joan Allen, becomes the most interesting character in the entire film thanks to Joan Allen's incredible performance and the way the narrative gradually breaks down all her supports. With no interest in sex, since she also doesn't seem to realize that she's awakened a sexual interest in the hairy priest, Elena ends up giving in to a pathetic sex inside Jim's car just as an act of "justice" to avenge the betrayal of their respective spouses.

In the first moments, Ice Storm shows the relationship between the Hood family and Carver, when the film starts that bond is already established. Thus, the audience gets to know the characters through the interaction between them and it is already apparent that the bond will remain throughout the plot. All this is clear when noticing that it is a class relationship in which both families share the same reality.

After showing the link, the work addresses in more detail how the relationship between them develops. And the audience finds that all of them, whether teenagers or adults, are experiencing internal conflicts and express these conflicts through sexual experiences. The film's pace is gradual and develops the internal conflicts of all the characters, slowly taking them out of their comfort zone. Since at first they are very cold, the audience knows there is loneliness in the characters, but they are reluctant to express it. However, the work is surprising, as it takes the characters out of the comfort zone they built in a violent way, generating the audience's empathy.

The plot takes place in the 1970s. To set the period, various visual means are used that make the characters feel that they are really living the time. Among them are clothes, cars, poster, etc., However, the most potent element is the television that broadcasts information about Nixon's presidential term in the US (1969 -1974). The device stays on and in addition to locating the narrative time, it also serves to set the scene where it is. Television is found in the homes of middle-class people and this is visible through the decor. Some colors used in the residence are yellow and green with opaque tones bringing a feeling of comfort and coldness. In addition, the lighting is very strong showing the loneliness in the characters' faces. In short, they are in a comfortable home as part of a pleasant family, but they cannot escape loneliness.

The melancholy is even more apparent when they leave the house and walk around the city, the outdoor space is almost always empty and the weather is cloudy. Therefore, the feeling that they are isolated and suffering some internal crisis is stronger than when they are at home. However, when it comes to the end of the work, the conflicts of the characters are exposed, that is, they can no longer contain what was inside them. This is the main moment of Ice Storm, unlike the beginning, the lighting becomes dark and the characters find themselves lost. Finally, the bubble in which they took shelter has burst and the time has come to face reality.

The work revolves around sex and loneliness, both adults and their children build cold and empty love relationships, reflecting conflicts that they do not know how to face. Here, the characters are suffering internal conflicts and doing their best not to face them. And this is present not only in the narrative, but also in the acting and soundtrack, which further highlight the interior of these people. However, the sadness being expressed in the soundtrack reaches its apex with the dramatic situation that marks the end of the film, materializing a sad moment that moves the audience.

Despite the soundtrack being important to exacerbate the feelings of the characters, sound elements such as noise and dialogue have a huge weight in the work. Therefore, to increase, there is a voice narrating some passages of the film, being the voice of the character of Tobey Maguire (Paul) that brings some existential reflections. Paul doesn't belong in the other characters' universe and is just spending the Thanksgiving holiday with his family.

It is important to note the importance of the title, which is a metaphor for the coldness of these people's relationships and even of society in general. Concerned only with their own wants and needs, the families portrayed are lost and unable to look at each other. Not by chance, the train Paul is on during his return home stops and the tracks freeze. Then we have the big event of the third act and the train finally starts moving again, keeping all the icy atmosphere that permeates the entire production.

The Ice Storm is a film that brings desire as a palliative of the crises that two middle-class American families are living. However, it is just the author's way of approaching the American society of the 70s and the middle class layer. Ang Lee hits the nail on the head in taking care of these eight characters and their respective conflicts in the quest to be better or happier people. Despite a kind of unnecessary tragedy, but understandable and acceptable considering the neglect of parents with their children, Ice Storm is one of those products about relationships that are indispensable for the audience avid for the subject. And if there's one thing Ang Lee knows how to do very well in his films, it's subtly work on the psychology of his characters, as has been proven throughout his career.

Now, it's only been 12 hours since I screened "Ice Storm" and I gotta say the material falls surely into that slot in my brain reserved for material that is not disposable. "The Ice Storm" is soul source material that resonates in the long term, Cassavetes-style.

The performances are A , the art direction exemplary, the story a well -structured, multiply parallel progression presented with a high degree of tension generated by offscreen awareness of plot/character developments.

This film IS pressure, temptation, collapse carefully dragging the viewer where you know you don't wanna go, but secretly can't help needing to find out the truth from the Truthteller, and you know you're gonna get the real magillah. Ugly, icky, and at times disturbingly stimulating (I shudder ).

"Ice" is like knowing there is going to be a serious accident on the highway at a particular road marker, you are compelled to go stand at the spot and watch it, then you can't turn away from the scene after the collision occurs.

The only problem/issue that continues to come up in my analysis is the presence of the director's hand in all this. I am recognizing that what I think is missing or lacking is not a failure of the director, but is, rather a conditioned expectation of a non-descript cinematic element that I NEED to be represented. When something unique comes along with this level of cinematic skill and quality star value/performance, I apparently have this need to also feel an awareness of the filmmaker's consciousness in an overt sense.

"Ice" is NOT this. Ang transfixes the plot/story drama with covert control techniques that simultaneously disarm and dominate your conscious faculties , while skillfully cranking up the Emotionometer by creating a conscious, quasi-real time frame/spatial identity to this suburban nightmare. I have a deep respect for those special, few-and-far-between filmmakers reminding me that there is more than one way to direct a contemporary film.

Beware, this is one that will stay with you for a long time...

The Ice Storm is a film that lasts in the memory.

Its a tragic story of non-communication set within a beautifully composed snapshot of 70s mores. The cast is outstanding, and the story slowly travels down the slope to its sad ending with a sense of inevitability in which we can each see parts of ourselves and echoes of our own relationships and unhappiness reflected from the screen.

The characters each travel through their own emotional maze, unable to see over the hedge to those closest to them. The wife-swapping party is a scene of tawdry desire in which the audience is able to see through the shallow hysteria which the characters are unable to penetrate.

I read Rick Moody's book after seeing the movie. Its one of the few instances I can recall in which a book has been so beautifully presented on screen without loss or change to its basic elements. I recommend both.

Angst, despair, family discord and pointless sex played out against the dross of the empty decade. At times it has the can't turn away compelling voyeuristic nature of one of those MTV real life shows. The story is moody and slow at times but the performances ring true as do the situations and dialog. Elijah Wood is very good as the voidoid adolescent whose odd and tragically meaningless demise seems to hold the key to what's at the center of this story. The first time through I didn't think much of this movie but subsequent viewing yields a more coherent and heartfelt slice of life circa 1975. If you are looking for an uplifting film stay away, far away.

This film is a full blown masterpiece. The rating is currently 7.4 which is just sad, this film should easily be on the top 250 and regarded for what it is, brilliant cinema.

I won't review the content of this film; I mean why? It's an experience you just need to have. It's a human experience, not just a pretty picture, a slice of life that could only really be compared to other masterworks like "Death Of A Salesman" or Tolstoy. There is a universal human bond to this film that will keep it relevant forever.

The direction, I mean my God. The acting, tone, writing, pacing, its all in a league of its own.

Ang Lee's The Ice Storm starts off with Tobey Maguire talking of the paradox within The Fantastic Four comic books. This sets us up for the film, which is a paradox in itself. The paradox shows us how actions within a family unit can lead to a storm. This is epitomised materially by an actual storm that hits the neighbourhood, and has an effect on all of the characters. The start of the film is also ironic as both the director and the actor playing the character that reads the comic book would have their future in comic books; Ang Lee for 'The Hulk', and Tobey Maguire for the fabulous 'Spider-Man' films.

The story takes place in a small neighbourhood in 1970's America and features two upper class families at it's centre; the Hood family, which consists of two parents (Kevin Kline and Joan Allen) and two children; a fourteen year old girl (Christina Ricci) and a sixteen year old boy (Tobey Maguire) and the Carver family, which consists of two parents (Sigourney Weaver and Jamey Sheridan) and two boys (Elijah Wood and Adam Hann-Byrd). It is mainly through the interactions between these families that the story progresses; Kevin Kline is having a purely sexual affair with Sigourney Weaver, which leads to suspicion and later jealousy from Joan Allen. At the same time, Christina Ricci is 'experimenting' with Elijah Wood and later his younger brother, which leads to protectiveness from her father etc. From this tight bond between the eight central characters, we are able to see why the characters do certain things, we see that it is their insecurities that drive them, usually to hypocrisy and it is this character study that makes The Ice Storm a good film. Due to the number of characters, and the relatively short running time of the film, it is impossible for them all to develop fully and for us to get to know all of them, and because of the way the relationships are shown, it makes the film seem deeper and more complex than it actually is. Two years later, a similar format to the one seen in this movie would be used to a much better effect; in a film called American Beauty. This predecessor never reaches the highs of that film.

Ang Lee has assembled himself a marvellous here. Kevin Kline is an underrated actor who always gives a good performance, as he does here. Sigourney Weaver is ultra-seductive mode, and this is probably the sexiest she's ever been in a movie. Joan Allen is sultry as Kline's wife, but her performance is believable and she brings a great life to the movie. Meanwhile, on the younger side of the cast, Christina Ricci impresses very much as the smart and curious young lady of the film. She's a beautiful actress, and one with talent too. Her performance is the standout of the film for me; she's the most real and the most enticing by far. Despite being a big fan of Spider-Man, I've always found Tobey Maguire to be annoying. He's annoying here too; he has talent, but he's very annoying. Elijah Wood is as turgid as ever in this film. He would, of course, go on to become a 'big thing', but it's clear to see that he's rubbish, from this film and his later performances.

As he would later show with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Ang Lee has a great directorial flair, and he shows it off here. The film is also supremely well written and there isn't a line that appears out of place for the character that speaks it. This allows us to get to know the characters and that is what you need to do in a film of this ilk. The Ice Storm is overall a good film.

"The Ice Storm" left me cold, really cold. At the end of the movie I was left with the feeling of being sucked dry. I spent 90 minutes enduring an endless series of pointless dysfunctional encounters that made me squirm in my chair with terminal embarrassment. The characters were dismal emotional wrecks with no moral inclination whatsoever. They had managed to ruin perfectly good lives and then inflict themselves onto me.

If there was a point to this story it might have been - Adultery, wife swapping, and etc. will destroy you and all those around you. So what ? I never formed any emotional ties to any of these people anyway.

How could you take so many talented actors and create a story no one should ever see? The writers obviously had talent, how else could they create situations that actually had me hiding my face waiting for the agony to subside. They had talented actors like Joan Allen and Kevin Kline, and yet wasted their time and ours. I found it hard to believe that this came from the same director/writer team that produced the charming "Eat Drink Man Women".

On the plus side, the acting was good, the circa 1970's homes and wardrobes were the best 70's piece ever, and the cinematography outstanding. If you are the kind of person that stops to enjoy the carnage of a good train wreck, then this movie might just be for you.