This short review was written for Edinburgh University's 'Student' newspaper.
Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver
Dir: Ang Lee
When Taiwanese director Ang Lee proposed he would direct Sense and Sensibility, snooty British critics scoffed at the notion that Johnny Foreigner could grasp the issues at the core of Jane Austen's very English novel. Thankfully, Lee proves his doubters wrong again with this adaptation of an American book - set over Thanksgiving break in 1973, The Ice Storm details the lives of two neighbouring families and how the unfolding events of a few days affect them.
Those of you hoping Sigourney Weaver appears brandishing a phased plasma pulse rifle will be disappointed to learn that the film centres around the gloomy lives of the central adult characters. The emptiness of their relationships with each other is echoed in vacant exchanges with their children. The adulterous affair between Weaver and Kevin Kline is paralleled by Weaver's son (Elijah Wood) and his awkward fumblings with Kline's daughter (a disturbingly chunky Christine Ricci). The other members of the families have their own problems - Kline's older son is competing with his best friend over his latest crush, while neurotic wife Joan Allen is beginning to suspect her husband's affair.
All this makes The Ice Storm sound like one of those god awful coming-of-age movies, but it isn't about that - it's about the importance of family. The style and setting make the film remarkably fresh, doing without the chipper Hollywood "Leave it to Beaver" narration and instead book-ending the film using an analogy with the Fantastic Four is just one example of the film's innovative handling of a typically crusty genre. It also features some of the most painfully accurate scenes of blooming sexuality committed to film - it's refreshing, if cringe worthy, to see realistic depictions of grubby adolescents in a movie. The 70's theme might sound superfluous, but as in the splendid Boogie Nights the attitudes and events of the time resonate powerfully with the lives of the characters in the film.
As The Ice Storm begins to tie itself together for a satisfying finale it might seem predictable, but the crisp direction and low-key performances mean the film is anything but schmaltzy. The sour-sweet ending is both a celebration and a tragedy; those of you prone to leaving the theatre with a misty expression will undoubtedly end up on the phone to your folks that evening, burbling on about how much they mean to you. You saps.
Nick Ferguson
nickf@writeme.com
http://www.saqnet.co.uk/users/nickf/index.html
http://www.n64gazetta.com
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