The Ice Storm . Tucson Weekly . 11-24-97

The Ice Storm

DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee

REVIEWED: 11-24-97

The '70s seem to be the hot decade in the movies right now, and The Ice Storm is one of the few films that treats that era as something other than camp. Based upon the novel by Rick Moody, this quiet, intelligent story of a family lurching through the chaos and disillusionment of the sexual revolution and Watergate treats the decade as a time of lost innocence, dirty secrets, and ungraceful quests for meaning. Kevin Kline and Joan Allen play Ben and Elena Hood, a WASPy Connecticut couple whose only fight has been over whether to quit "couples therapy." We soon learn that this isn't due to a harmonious marriage; rather, they're simply too dedicated to disguising their emotions to consider fighting. Their teenage kids, Wendy (a terrific performance by Christina Ricci) and Paul (Tobey Maguire) have absorbed this lesson well and are already nurturing their own secret lives. Though all four seem to long for closeness, all they can manage is to edge farther apart, as the worst storm of the decade glazes the trees and roads of their Connecticut town in a beautiful, treacherous layer of ice. Director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility, Eat Drink Man Woman) continues to do what he does best--chronicle complicated family relationships with sensitivity and compassion.

--Richter

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Capsule Reviews
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Other Films by Ang Lee
Ride With the Devil
Sense and Sensibility

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