It's easy to compare The Ice Storm to American Beauty and Happiness, both of which also dealt with disillusionment and the disintegration of the American Dream and the traditional family cell in the suburbs, and to a lesser extent The Sweet Hereafter which explored some similar themes in small town Canada. The Ice Storm is as cynical as those other films, but it's much more subtle in masking its sardonicism, and has aged much better than American Beauty, which had the appearance of a masterpiece at its release but looks flat and shallow now. The people in The Ice Storm feel more real and more human than the ones in American Beauty and Happiness; and the film walks that fine line between character-based slice-of-life storytelling and metaphorical satire, which works only because the viewer cares for the characters and their fates, while also absorbing the bigger issues under the surface.
That would not work without a strong ensemble cast; the actors in The Ice Storm are not among my favorites, yet they all outdo themselves and produce sympathetic, powerful, convincing performances - Kevin Kline, Joan Allen and Sigourney Weaver are all at their very best, and the younger actors (Elijah Wood, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Adam Hann-Byrd and - amazingly - even Katie Holmes) all deliver too. In contrast with the (intentionally) despicable characters in Happiness and American Beauty, these actors form a group of very average people that the viewer relates to and cares about - but the dysfunction and sickness is right there beneath the surface, waiting for the right catastrophe to explode.
There's an undefinable something that stops The Ice Storm short of becoming one of my favorites. The ending fits the mood of the rest of the film, but doesn't offer the catharsis that is needed, and it left me with a bitter taste. In the end, I found myself wishing that the film said more, and left more of a mark; the fact that it isn't often recognized as one of the best films of the 90's is simply because there's something not quite memorable about it. It's incredibly engaging throughout, though, and is definitely one of the strongest dramas of its time, beautifully shot, and a gem that's well worth discovering.
That would not work without a strong ensemble cast; the actors in The Ice Storm are not among my favorites, yet they all outdo themselves and produce sympathetic, powerful, convincing performances - Kevin Kline, Joan Allen and Sigourney Weaver are all at their very best, and the younger actors (Elijah Wood, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Adam Hann-Byrd and - amazingly - even Katie Holmes) all deliver too. In contrast with the (intentionally) despicable characters in Happiness and American Beauty, these actors form a group of very average people that the viewer relates to and cares about - but the dysfunction and sickness is right there beneath the surface, waiting for the right catastrophe to explode.
There's an undefinable something that stops The Ice Storm short of becoming one of my favorites. The ending fits the mood of the rest of the film, but doesn't offer the catharsis that is needed, and it left me with a bitter taste. In the end, I found myself wishing that the film said more, and left more of a mark; the fact that it isn't often recognized as one of the best films of the 90's is simply because there's something not quite memorable about it. It's incredibly engaging throughout, though, and is definitely one of the strongest dramas of its time, beautifully shot, and a gem that's well worth discovering.