Review of The Ice Storm (1997) by Sarfaraz A — 01 Apr 2013

The Ice Storm directed by Ang Lee. Starring Kevin Kline, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Sigourney Weaver and Joan Allen. The film is based on the novel of same name by Rick Moody in 1994.

Set in 1970s in New Canaan, the film begins with Hoods family conversation over Watergate scandal, while having Thanksgiving at a dinner-table . The Hoods family is comprised of Joan Allen/Kevin Kline and the Carvers family is Sigourney Weaver/Henry Czerny. They are neighbors as well as well friends, the husbands are wrapped up in their careers and their wives trapped between expectations and an alarming new world of self-actualization and sexual freedom. Their adolescent children played by Christina Ricci and Tobey Maguire from Hoods family, Elijah Wood and Adam Hann-Byrd from Carvers family - they are all uniformly sullen, rebellious and confused.

Ang Lee's direction is well-balanced, given the note of highlighting peculiar culture of the west. The cast of the film is dedicated and well-selected according to the character-demand. Though, I could hardly feel the potential of Sigourney Weaver in this film, and yet her devilish looks undoubtedly enough to make us ignore her. Kevin Kline stood out as heart-throb personality in entire film along with Christina Ricci (in one of her earlier beautiful roles).