classicsoncall An ice storm is the perfect metaphor for virtually all the characters in this movie, as each walks the Earth with a virtual glaze of frozen mist covering their eyes while attempting to navigate family and personal relationships. The country was well on it's way to losing it's moral anchor in the 1970's, the chronological setting of the film, and no wonder. Sexual experimentation led to an 'if it feels good, do it' mentality, while drugs and alcohol loosened any inhibitions one might have had on the way to a swinging lifestyle. For the most part, it only led to alienation and a dissolution of self respect. It might have been helpful if this story had even one redeeming character, but instead, each one operated in a moral vacuum, adults and teen children alike. But after all, aren't the kids just following their parents' example? Ang Lee directs superbly in this ensemble study of defective middle class values and senses devoid of feeling. Aside from the effective character study, I'd have to question the judgment of someone like Jim Carver (Jamey Sheridan), suggesting that he and his neighbor Elena Hood (Joan Allen) go for a ride in the middle of one of the nastiest ice storms on record. Not only did they drop all pretense of acting like responsible adults with their wham-bam affair, but who in their right mind thinks you can navigate a vehicle on a roadway of sheer ice?

Mihai Toma In a small town from Connecticut, several families seem to go through some sort of mid-life crisis. Seeming unable to find their welfare, the adult members start acting strange, almost searching for a new life, while their kids, who are in need of guidance are completely ignored, leaving them free to do whatever they desire, no matter how wrong it might be. It's a very odd movie which tries to present something special but ends up telling boring and ordinary adventures of ordinary people which tend to exit their ordinary life in search of something else. To be honest, I really don't understand its high rating. It presents absolutely nothing impressive, just a series of apparently random events which make more or less sense by people who seem to have mostly lost their mind. Almost every action they undertake is either simple and boring or stupid and without any logic. Not to mention the kids here, who seem a bunch of misfits, gathered together just to have something for the movie. It really is boring as hell, you don't get to see anything interesting, anything that may catch or attention or which might, at some point, bring even a tiny bit of suspense. I really am puzzled by the fact that somebody can consider this one a very good film. The characters a boring, the action is boring and even the finale doesn't bring anything to the film. It just ends, as abruptly as it starts. Almost pointless…The way I see it, it's a movie which has a series of boring and ordinary events and considers that if you bring something more or less controversial into the story, like an affair, some random stealing or some random sexual desires, you can make something great in the end. It doesn't bring anything interesting, it just creates drama from something dull and ordinary and expects the viewer to be amazed by its events.

powermandan I honestly think 1997 was the best year for movies. Look at all the calibre hits that came out that year. Even the non-great films (The Edge, Spawn) were still cool to see.Out of everything that came out that year, The Ice Storm is the most overlooked. I had only heard of it after seeing Gene Siskel's annual Top 10 lists. He ranked this the best movie of 1997. Although I disagree that it is the best, it is certainly in my top 10.The Ice Storm stars Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Henry Czerny, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Katie Holmes and David Krumholtz. Aside from Titanic, this has the best cast of 1997. The movie is about two neighbouring families: the Hoods (Kline, Allen, Maguire, Ricci) and the Carvers (Weaver, Sheridan, Wood, Byrd). Each member have their own subplots that are ruining their lives, and eventually intertwine. Kline is sleeping with Weaver and struggling with drinking; Allen suspects infidelity; Wood wants to get serious with Ricci but she wants to do some exploration; Maguire gets high with his prep friends and wants Holmes. The coldest storm ever is about to hit and effect everyone. This is a coming of age story for everyone in it. I could really relate to every subplot. Everybody is selfish and not caring about the other, that is pretty much what the movie is about. When the storm hits, some images stay with you as they symbolize different things in the story. Sometimes, ice is a nice thing to see and we also see it in its darkness. Each time the ice changes its mood, it foreshadows the mood coming up. The ice could also be used to represent how the main characters are: cold. None of the characters are really nice or likable. But they are still very compelling and interesting. How Ang Lee could do that is beyond me. They live in the woods in suburban New York. That could show how isolated they are with reality and the rest of the world. It all builds up to a shocking and heartfelt conclusion that stays with you for a long time. The denouement is a real tearjerker. Afterwards, you are left thinking about the movie as a whole and what it all says. Everything that the movie says is phenomenal.Still Ang Lee's best movie.

TheBlueHairedLawyer The Ice Storm, set in 1973 during the era of the sexual revolution, is much more disturbing and eye-opening than its simple cover and title make it appear. Not only does it star some amazing actors/actresses, but despite the dated and nostalgic setting it has a timeless message: when parents forget their kids are there, well, kids still see, hear - and pick up on - everything adults do. Everyone was a kid at some point, and many of us can recall times when our parents acted more like teenagers than caregivers. The difference is, in The Ice Storm, the carelessness of the fictional parents leads to the horrible death of a little boy.Discos, key parties, drugs, booze, free love, it's all the thing in 1973 as the latest trend. The problem is, that kind of thing spreads to a middle-class community and starts messing up families and friendships. The true sufferers though are the kids. Wendy (Christina Ricci) is only fourteen but enjoys copying her parents' lifestyle, leading to her getting sort of a bad reputation. Libbits is just a kid but left home alone by her parents in a house filled with drugs. Sandy is obsessed with violence, Mikey is hardly noticed and Francis is always getting high.One night during a key party in the neighborhood, every one of the characters learns something shocking about the way the swinger lifestyle is; the sexual revolution isn't all it's cracked up to be. Just when it looks like things might change, one of the younger neighborhood children has gone outside into a deadly ice storm... and it was because, to the parents, he hardly existed until it mattered most of all.The Ice Storm really hits you at the very ending, when one of the parents breaks down crying at the wheel of his car in front of his family. He realizes that their own negligence caused the death of a child, all over a key party, a stupid game for adults who don't want to grow up. Wendy suddenly realizes how childish her behavior has been, and the parents realize that the whole time they were getting after their children for perverse behavior it was all being learned from the parents themselves. Kids pick things up. The Ice Storm is just a lesson for us all, a worst-case-scenario of sorts, set in a time not so long ago.The soundtrack was beautiful, the acting was excellent and the plot was very original (it was adapted into an episode of the show Cold Case titled "The Key"). And while the sexual revolution was several decades ago, today is the tech revolution. Adults are using phones more and more without communicating in anything but texts. Maybe The Ice Storm's message is more universal than meets the eye, because it's true, kids do pick up on their parents' behavior, and it's not always a good thing.