The Ice Storm (1997)

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

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

Rick Moody (novel), James Schamus

Stars:

Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Kline	...	Ben Hood
Joan Allen	...	Elena Hood
Sigourney Weaver	...	Janey Carver
Henry Czerny	...	George Clair
Tobey Maguire	...	Paul Hood
Christina Ricci	...	Wendy Hood
Elijah Wood	...	Mikey Carver
Adam Hann-Byrd	...	Sandy Carver
David Krumholtz	...	Francis Davenport
Jamey Sheridan	...	Jim Carver
Kate Burton	...	Dorothy Franklin
William Cain	...	Ted Shackley
Michael Cumpsty	...	Philip Edwards
Maia Danziger	...	Mrs. Gadd
Katie Holmes	...	Libbets Casey

Storyline

In the weekend after thanksgiving 1973 the Hoods are skidding out of control. Benjamin Hood reels from drink to drink, trying not to think about his trouble at the office. His wife, Elena, is reading self help books and losing patience with her husband's lies. Their son, Paul, home for the holidays, escapes to the city to pursue an alluring rich girl from his prep school. And young, budding nymphomaniac, Wendy Hood roams the neighborhood, innocently exploring liquor cabinets and lingerie drawers of her friends' parents, looking for something new. Then an ice storm hits, the worst in a century. Things get bad...

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Plot Keywords:

storm | ice | drink | ice storm | thanksgiving | 

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Taglines:

It was 1973, and the climate was changing.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and drug use, including scenes involving children, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

La tormenta de hielo

Filming Locations:

Greenwich, Connecticut, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£217,563 (UK) (6 February 1998)

Gross:

£939,110 (UK) (27 February 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Good Machine, Canal+ Droits Audiovisuels

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the novel The Ice Storm, Rick Moody writes "And sometimes Paul himself was Ben Grimm, and sometimes he was Peter Parker, a.k.a. the Spider-Man" Coincidentally, Tobey Maguire plays both Paul and Peter Parker in the film versions.

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Goofs

In the scene where Wendy Hood has a brief encounter in the middle of the crosswalk with Sandy Carver (at the 19:20 mark), the street corner's curb in the background (behind Sandy) is wheelchair accessible. Such ramps did not exist in 1973.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Train Conductor: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This train, originating from New York's Grand Central Station, is back in service. Next stop will be New Canaan, Connecticut. New Canaan, Connecticut next stop.
Paul Hood: [narration] In issue 141 of the Fantastic Four, published in November, 1973, Reed Richards had to use his anti-matter weapon on his own son, who Aannihilus has turn into the Human Atom Bomb. It was a typical predicament for the Fantastic Four, because they weren't like other superheroes. ...

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Connections

Features M*A*S*H (1972)

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Soundtracks

"Suavecito"
Written by Richard Bean, Abel Zarate and Pablo Tellez
Used by permission of Canterbury Music
Performed by Malo
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

A movie of raw emotional power. **** out of ****

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.