Agent on Ice (1985) User Reviews

LITTLE HERE FOR THE MIND, BUT A GOOD DEAL FOR THE EYE.

[rsoonsa · 4/10 · 26 May 2004]

John Pope (Tom Ormeny) is a former CIA operative whose past haunts him in this weakly-written work created by its producer, Louis Pastore, who also co-scripts and plays a principal part. Pope was involved in a Government conspiracy to assassinate Frank Matera (Pastore), a Mafia chieftain but, unknown to John the hit did not happen, being a ruse allowing Matera to disappear from public view by moving to Sicily. He and CIA supervisor of field operations Neil Kirkpatrick (Clifford David) had an established liaison whereby the Mob kills selected political figures that the intelligence agency wants cancelled in exchange for the laundering of Mafia moneys. Matera, wearying of his exile, has returned to the United States where he and his cohorts begin to eliminate all who know of his relationship with the CIA, to include Kirkpatrick and Pope, a situation that the latter naturally attempts to avoid. Pope, utilized as a patsy by the spy agency, is later released from its employ, and is working as an insurance investigator tormented by lack of knowledge relative to his being fired. His concerns are soon refocussed upon survival and he essays provisional connections with others who were duped for the same bogus assignment. Domination by logic seems to be not a concern of the writers who supply a peck of vague subplots in a movie manifestly affected by intemperate cutting for its release print. Although some of the story is set in Hungary, pine barrens in New Jersey are its proxy, with sectors of the Garden State and of Brooklyn hosting most of the shooting that makes good use of a snowy season. David always projects well and his performance stands out, and more could not be asked from other capable players who are effective in supporting roles, including Matt Craven, Al Mancini and Becky Ann Baker (as Becky Gelke). Heading the film's failings is a trite script, full of incongruity and cliche. Unfortunately, the director is answerable for the scenario as co-author. An electronic score, mired in one key, is irksome and obtrusive. The best for last: the camerawork from cinematographer Eric Kollmar, of the highest standard throughout the work, constitutes the only compelling reason for watching it. With deft use of long and deep focus shots, in addition to his excellent setup and lighting skills, Kollmar somewhat diffuses the staleness of this affair, with so many creatively interesting shots that viewing this film without sound is a valid aesthetic experience.

Chintzy (non)-action film

[lor_ · 5 March 2023]

My review was written in May 1986 after a screening at UA Twin theater in Manhattan.

Take an uninteresting story, executed on the cheap in perfunctory fashion and you have the non-thriller "Agent on Ice", shot in New York and New Jersey with such alternate titles as "And Then You Die" and "Silent Partners". With a no-name cast, pic will have trouble getting attention in international markets.

Tom Ormenny (who looks like an uncle to actor John Ericson) toplines as John Pope, an ex-CIA agent now on the skids as a slovenly insurance adjustor. A Mafiosos he supposedly killed, Frank Matera (Louis Pastore), is back in New York after hiding out in Sicily, and orders Pope and other CIA agents to be killed.

Pope's ex-bosses at the CIA are corruptly in cahoots with the Mafia, so everyone wants him dead. It takes six boring reels and a bulletproof vest for Pope to wipe out everybody and have the obligatory final scene letting the government know what it can do with its jobs and perks.

Acting is lousy in a film which cries out for an international cast of character actors. Shot in winter (with New Jersey unconvincingly filling in for a prologue supposedly set in Hungary), the film has consistently ugly locations and dreary colors. With producer Louis Pastore doubling as the Mafia villain, movie is closer to a vanity production than the tough guy, B-picture it strives to be.

First 10 minutes are great - last 85 minutes are awful

[pkzeewiz · 1/10 · 16 May 2010]

This movie starts out with a guy driving down the road, a guy sets up a booby trap forcing him to crash, when he gets out of his car a strange man chases him with an axe and ultimately splits his skull with it....how cool is that, but wait...the movie sucks the rest of the way. The rest of this boring movie involves different agents and mafia guys going around looking for one another doing whatever it takes to kill them, but no one seems to ever get it right and there's nothing gang movie like or especially Mafia style done in this film. It is boring and after 20 minutes I could care less who died, cause all of the characters sucked...this was as bad and as low budget as a movie can get.

The cast was full of nobodies. I do recall Matt Craven from a few things, but he definitely is not a great actor. All of the actors here did OK, but none did great. The movie had some cool quotes in it, but it's not a comedy and no one should like it for that. The movie was so slow and boring. One of the worst films I have ever watched.

The film starts out with such beautiful direction, and Ian Carpentars music is just perfect. It feels like a great 80's slasher film and I was on the edge of my seat thinking "wow, why haven't I seen this before" and then after the axe to the head, it changed...the music turned into lazy synth notes that was so dated and horrible and the director just got lazy and it played out like a 15 cent cop drama....

Such a let down, I am glad I didn't pay anything for my VHS copy, I will never watch it again, and it is not a gang film, not a mafia film, definitely not a thriller...it's just boring characters killing more boring characters... total snore fest 1/10 stars

Not Bad Actually

[flyingcandy · 7/10 · 18 May 2007]

This was a pretty decent movie. I purchased an old VHS copy online because the star, Tom Ormeny, was my acting teacher, and a very good one. In this film his performance is liken to that of a Charles Bronson or a Steve McQueen: the entire premise of the film centers on him, so he didn't have to do much but just be a guy who has to survive at all costs and shoot a gun at the heavies and be tough and quietly sexy with the ladies who dig him with a heartbroken chagrin in their eyes. (Personally, I think Tom would be better suited in a character-acting role. And speaking of Charles Bronson, this would have been a good vehicle for him... He definitely could have used it in the eighties when he was married to the Death Wish franchise.) The other characters, like the mob boss who wants him dead, and the two young trigger-happy henchmen (one played by Matt Craven who I always remember from "Meatballs"), do the real acting. They're the ones with something at stake... like half a billion dollars. Ormeny plays a retired CIA operative John Pope (many characters in action films seem to have this name) who, after he is almost killed outside his office, must go from place to place, and find out who is after him (adding to his character a noir-gumshoe quality), and then he must do something about it. The camera-work is incredible. Kudos to whoever the cinematographer is. I loved the long shots and the rolling shots as well. The camera moved with precision, and that's the high point of the film. The synthesizer music is very annoying, and very eighties, and it's too bad because this kind of dated music can often ruin a film like this that doesn't seem, by its looks, to be set in one specific decade. There are many hooks and catches to this movie that will keep your attention. I'm surprised it's such a neglected film, although I'm sure someone like Quentin Tarantino (who has seen almost every crime movie ever made) has probably seen it. It's definitely worth a look, and worth the $.75 cents for a used VHS copy somewhere online.