Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		2.0

The Ice Harvest Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf December 5, 2018

The late Harold Ramis was an enormous talent. However, his directorial career covered a frustratingly uneven collection of instant classics (“Caddyshack,” “Groundhog Day,” “Vacation”) and immediate duds (“Bedazzled,” “Club Paradise,” “Year One”). 2005’s “The Ice Harvest” (Ramis’s penultimate film) falls somewhere between the creative extremes, emerging as a slightly mystifying take on Midwestern noir, taking inspiration from Scott Phillip’s 2001 crime novel. One can easily see where Ramis wanted to go with the picture, but his desire to mix black comedy with bits of existential dread and underworld entanglements mostly comes off uninspired, finding such careful stepping draining the endeavor of personality and tension. What should’ve been a home run for the gifted helmer is instead a disappointing non-starter.

During over the course of a winter day in Wichita, mob lawyer Charlie (John Cusack) has managed to skim over two million bucks from underworld kingpin Bill (Randy Quaid), planning to sneak away with the cash with help from his partner, local sleazebag Vic (Billy Bob Thornton). Trying to pass the time before morning arrives and the men skip town, Charlie is instead sucked into the drunken antics of Pete (Olivier Platt), a loser who married Charlie’s ex-wife and now can’t cope with his domestic situation. Trying to manage Pete’s neuroses and his own anxiety, Charlie’s troubles multiply when mafia hitman Roy (Mike Starr) begins looking for him. Taking refuge in the company of strip club owner Renata (Connie Nielsen), Charlie tries to keep cool and out of sight, but he can’t help himself, sucked deeper into a pit of paranoia as the evening wears on.

There’s great potential in the Wichita setting, with the city depicted as a lifeless hellhole dotted with nothing but sex businesses and bars. The dreariness is a fine inspiration for Charlie and Vic’s scam, with the crooks working to buy a better life, trying to steal from the mafia as quietly as possible. Of course, this plan doesn’t work out as imagined, but “The Ice Harvest” doesn’t start snowballing with disasters after establishing the setting and the players. Ramis prefers to make a noir event, keeping the effort stylish, shadowy, and sultry, with Renata the femme fatale, finding herself targeted by Charlie and his lustful desires while interested in the fortune he’s amassed. Local color is amusingly realized in the screenplay (by Richard Russo and Robert Benton), surveying a community of violent aggressors, drunks, and the obsessed, but “The Ice Harvest” only spends moments on oddity, preferring to remain close to Charlie and his long evening of accidents and revelations.

There’s dark humor to be found in the movie, but nothing lands a sizable laugh. Ramis elects to accentuate the bitterness of all involved in the crime, not eccentricity, and the writing has a strange way of introducing crisis, leading with the tossing around of last names before faces are shown, making it difficult to soak up any mounting pressures without proper identification. Even worse, Ramis elects to keep Roy in shadows until the finale for reasons not understood, laboring to generate a mystery concerning a character who barely factors in the plot. “The Ice Harvest” has a lot of side adventures meant to widen the scope of Charlie’s mistake (maintaining literary inspiration), but the production doesn’t secure a proper sense of escalation, finding Pete’s contribution to the tale superfluous at best.

The Ice Harvest Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Unfortunately for "Ice Harvest" fans, Kino Lorber only has an ancient master to work with, keeping the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation far away from traditional HD clarity. Filtering is heavy, leaving detail difficult to study, finding waxy faces and dulled distances during the viewing experience. Haloing is present as well. Texture isn't there, which would help a movie about sensual encounters and icy locations. Colors are muted, fighting to retain some liveliness with neon and Christmas lighting, along with stripper and holiday outfits. Skintones are drab, too muddied at times. Delineation is problematic, with Charlie's darker outfits and winter wear lost to solidification, and crush is present elsewhere, diminishing background decoration. The source is free of damage.

The Ice Harvest Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix secures a clear read of "Ice Harvest" activity, offering defined dialogue exchanges that range from drunk bellowing to whispered plans. Performances are simple to follow and retain personality. Scoring is also supportive and distinct, handling the cinematic stance of the effort with crisp jazz instrumentation, while soundtrack selections offer louder accompaniment. Surrounds aren't active, but atmospherics are present, offering a circular sense of rainfall and strip club activity. Sound effects are sharp and true. Low-end isn't challenged.

The Ice Harvest Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director Harold Ramis.

• Alternate Ending #1 (4:46, SD) presents a darker take on Charlie's fate, with defined finality.

• Alternate Ending #2 (5:42, SD) returns to basically the same closing moment, adding a deleted scene disguised as a flashback to provide a sense of connection among the lead characters.

• "Outtake with Billy Bob Thornton" (1:31, SD) showcases a restaurant scene between Cusack and his co-star, with Thornton, for funsies, slipping into his "Sling Blade" character, Karl, to comically deliver a bit of exposition from Vic.

• "Cracking the Story" (17:04, SD) visits a dive bar to meet with novelist Scott Phillips and screenwriters Robert Benton and Richard Russo, setting up a friendly conversation among the collaborators concerning "The Ice Harvest." With the discovery of the book came the awareness of Phillips's cinematic language, permitting the screenwriters a chance to gracefully adapt the novel for the screen, though creative challenges remained, with the men pointing out the 1979 setting as a particular point of departure. The interviewees also discuss changing certain details to streamline storytelling, and they all share a great love for Harold Ramis, emphasizing his skill with tone and setting. While the featurette is interesting when spotlighting labor to shape the movie, it's also very self-congratulatory, with the men gushing about "The Ice Harvest," hoping to sell such enthusiasm to the audience.

• "Beneath the Harvest" (13:06, SD) returns to Ramis (and cast and crew) to walk through particulars concerning "The Ice Harvest" for this EPK-style featurette. The main players take turns describing the film's meaning and isolate character development. There's an overview of script development and Ramis's desire to move the shoot to Chicago to emphasize noir intent and work closer to home. The Christmastime setting is examined (and roasted), and a good chunk of the featurette covers Ramis's personal record for professionalism, with the bad weather threatening his perfect streak of usable shooting days. Along the way, some valuable BTS footage is included, offering a peek at on-set camaraderie and general order.

• "Ice Cracking: Analysis of a Scene" (6:17, SD) takes a closer look at a climatic lake sequence, where the production team built a pond in the middle of a field, using melted wax to simulate ice over freezing waters. We spy stunt preparation and technical details, with cold weather keeping actors in character. Interestingly, Thornton has a fear of drowning, making the scene all the trickier to create, making heavy use of doubles.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:27, SD) is included.

The Ice Harvest Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In the overall arc of Ramis's career, "The Ice Harvest" isn't his worst picture, just his greatest misfire. One can sense an editorial struggle to get this feature into release shape, with tonality messy, performances overly permissive at times (Platt is a cartoon here), and an ultimate summary of redemption (or comeuppance) ruined by a pulled punches in the climax.