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The Ice Storm

Play trailer 2:30 Poster for The Ice Storm R 1997 1h 53m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
86% Tomatometer 71 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
In the 1970s, an outwardly wholesome family begins cracking at the seams over the course of a tumultuous Thanksgiving break. Frustrated with his job, the father, Ben (Kevin Kline), seeks fulfillment by cheating on his wife, Elena (Joan Allen), with neighborhood seductress Janey (Sigourney Weaver). Their teenage daughter, Wendy (Christina Ricci), dabbles in sexual affairs too -- with Janey's son Mikey (Elijah Wood). The family's strained relations continue to tauten until an ice storm strikes.
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The Ice Storm

The Ice Storm

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Critics Consensus

Director Ang Lee revisits the ennui-laden decadence of 1970s suburban America with deft humor and gripping pathos.

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Critics Reviews

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Guy Lodge Observer (UK) Nov 25
It’s breath-catchingly pained and delicate in articulating estrangements and losses, aggravated by a November cold snap so tangibly felt in Frederick Elmes’s crisp, brittle cinematography and the icicle-tapping tones of Mychael Danna’s score. Go to Full Review
Gene Siskel Chicago Tribune 03/28/2019
4/4
Nothing less than one of the year's best pictures, a portrait of wealthy Connecticut suburbanites in the 1970s whose lives have no emotional or spiritual rudder. Go to Full Review
David Ansen Newsweek 02/27/2018
The Ice Storm captures this place, this season, this garish and confused moment in history, with surgical precision...It's Lee's sympathetic detachment that gives the movie its paradoxical power. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 05/05/2024
3.5/4
Even while nailing a specific period in time, it’s still able to transcend its setting and speak directly to modern folks who no longer find aesthetic pleasure in impossibly long sideburns. Go to Full Review
Stephen Silver Tilt Magazine 09/30/2022
4/5
In fact, just about everything sexual that happens in the film is dirty, unpleasant, unsatisfying, and led to pain and heartbreak for just about everyone involved (25th anniversary) Go to Full Review
Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review 02/14/2022
4/4
The Ice Storm contains a deeply human authenticity and willingness to portray, but not resolve, its characters' collective alienation. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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thiago s @Thiagostone Dec 6 Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more Blobbo X @Blobbo Nov 28 Downer, aka I never Sang for My Ice Storm. See more Peter T. @wesbags Nov 25 One of the best dramas I’ve seen. The beauty of the ice storm is that it sneaks up on you. The family goes through small conflicts throughout the whole film, but then at the end when tragedy hits all of those things add up to a traumatic realization of how lost all the characters are. See more Michael D Nov 9 "The Ice Storm" is one of those films that engulfed me so entirely that I felt disoriented upon leaving the theater. I saw it on a hot summer day in Houston, TX, and was so gripped by the story and the setting that I was somewhat disappointed to go outside to warmth and sun after being engrossed in the frozen landscape of the films (and the frozen lives and hearts of the characters). Ang Lee is a master, and he deftly captured not just a time and place, but an unflinching look at what can happen to any of us when we are rudderless and grasping at anything and anyone around us to somehow gives a sense of who we are and where we are going. The film's genius, and punch, lies in the fact that no one gets a neatly wrapped resolution or absolution. Instead, they are forced to face their emptiness and confusion with no real answers. The film may be set in the 70s, but the themes are timeless. See more Leslie G 10/31/2024 I read the book before the movie, and was spot on. Perfect snap shot of the time period - both in set design and in tone. Beautifully captured the atmosphere and emotions of a sexually confused, political, post Vietnam time. Heartbreaking yet hopeful. See more Josue R 06/27/2024 The movie has a really good cast but it failed to connect with me. I feel that without spoiling the movie certain characters didn’t behave or have the reactions you’d expect in very difficult life situations. Maybe that was the point but it didn’t feel intentional to me. See more Read all reviews
The Ice Storm

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the 1970s, an outwardly wholesome family begins cracking at the seams over the course of a tumultuous Thanksgiving break. Frustrated with his job, the father, Ben (Kevin Kline), seeks fulfillment by cheating on his wife, Elena (Joan Allen), with neighborhood seductress Janey (Sigourney Weaver). Their teenage daughter, Wendy (Christina Ricci), dabbles in sexual affairs too -- with Janey's son Mikey (Elijah Wood). The family's strained relations continue to tauten until an ice storm strikes.
Director
Ang Lee
Producer
Ted Hope, Ang Lee, James Schamus
Screenwriter
Rick Moody, James Schamus
Distributor
Fox, 20th Century Fox
Production Co
Good Machine, Fox Searchlight
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 27, 1997, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$7.9M
Runtime
1h 53m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital, Surround
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.37:1), 35mm
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