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Actors: Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Ice Storm |
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It is the weekend after Thanksgiving 1973, and the Watergate scandal is unfolding in the background. In suburban New Canaan, Connecticut, families and moral standards have come unglued. Ben Hood (Kline) is drinking to avoid trouble at the office while his long-suffering wife Elena (Allen) buries herself in self-help books. Son Paul is home for the holiday from prep school but takes off by commuter train to pursue a rich girl he knows from school, while his younger sister Wendy prowls the neighborhood, other people's belongings, and even other kids looking for trouble. The Hoods go to a party where drinking, sexual experimentation, and drug use take them further out of control, just as the worst ice storm in recent memory hits. Janey Carver (Weaver) proves especially intriguing to Ben, and Elena retaliates furiously. The events of the movie, based on the novel by Rick Moody, take just 24 hours, and leave the principals (as well as the viewer) stunned and exhausted. It's a depressing film, but skillfully written, acted, and directed (by Taiwan-born Ang Lee in 1997, between "Sense and Sensibility" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"!).
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Ice Storm |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Romance/Love/Hugging
Yes
Kind of romance:
- inconveniently married while playing footsy
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Kids:
- boozing
Taboo Sex Story?
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- business executive
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- sex under blankets
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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