The Ice Harvest

Starring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, & Connie Nielsen 

Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars

When two low level mafia members are frustrated with their roles, they come up with a plan to steal two million dollars from their boss. Everything goes off without a hitch, and now, they just have to wait one night before they can get out of town and move on to a new life, but things are never that simple. The Ice Harvest was an interesting film, with a great cast, and had they been able to pull off what they were attempting to do, it would have been a classic. Producers decided to make this film a modern day, 1930's type noir film, but at the same time, they wanted to mock how cheesy and over the top these films could be. It was a great idea, but it didn't work because the mocking wasn't subtle. In fact, the film takes it so far, that it becomes exactly what they were trying to make fun of in the first place. John Cusack stars and he can make any film better. This guy can play anyone and is always amazing, I just can't understand why he doesn't take on bigger roles. Here he's paired with Billy Bob Thornton, who under the right circumstances, can be hilarious. While he was pretty funny, he has almost no chemistry with Cusack and that hurt the film. These guys were partners, but on completely opposite pages and it just doesn't work. The Ice Harvest was an interesting story and I wish they had been able to pull off what they were attempting to do, but very quickly the film becomes a farce of itself, brutally predictable, and simply a waste of time.