The Ice Harvest
Focus Features | Release Date: November 23, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
9
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
The Ice Harvest isn't a subversive piece of work; it's not making some grand statement about the dark side of the holiday spirit. But what it IS saying in its grimly funny way is that we can't always control the timing of our disasters. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
In a season of bulging Movies Earmarked for Importance, it is almost startling to come across something as unhyped - and perfectly swell - as The Ice Harvest. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
A droll, dark Christmas treat for adults, a delightful alternative to the usual holiday-themed fare. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Its jazzy rhythm and economy of form place it closer to a 1950s film noir, shot through with humor so dark you need a flashlight to see it. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
A funny but genuinely dark story. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
From the cast and location to the attitude and premise, many things in The Ice Harvest are inescapably reminiscent of the Coen brothers. But as a director, Ramis is far less flashy and not nearly as pleased with himself. This is one of the most sustained movies of the year, as classic in its structure as "Double Indemnity" or "No Exit." Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Ramis is at his best when dealing with men facing a soul-defining crisis, and he finds plenty to work with in Russo and Benton's script, which offers Russo's trademark blend of colorful characters and slow-building dilemmas. The Ice Harvest finds them all operating in top form in as dark a territory as they've ever explored. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
This often macabre comedy allows us to doff such civilized traits as taste and decency. We're free to laugh at anything, and we do. Oh, the shame -- and the good time. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Thornton is in great form as the sardonic Vic, whose disposal of an apparently dead body in a trunk is a hilarious set piece. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I liked the movie for the quirky way it pursues humor through the drifts of greed, lust, booze, betrayal and spectacularly complicated ways to die. I liked it for Charlie's (Cusack) essential kindness, as when he pauses during a getaway to help a friend who has run out of gas. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
"Bad Santa" it's not. Bumptiously entertaining it is. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
The Ice Harvest doesn't have much heft or resonance. But as an antidote to the sugary confections of the season, its hung-over cynicism works wonders. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
This isn't a crime comedy, exactly. It's a slightly absurd, minimalist noir, in the ZIP code of "Blood Simple" and "Fargo." Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
That may be your lump of coal, but it seems a precious gift to me. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
How about something a little nasty for the holidays? Read full review
70
VarietyLisa Nesselson
Fine thesping in the service of characters as meaty as they are immoral makes this material a treat for grown up audiences with an ear for sardonic dialogue. Read full review
67
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
It's a rhythmless, graceless piece of filmmaking. But if you have an ounce of misanthropy in your body, a picture like this can draw it to the surface the way a leech draws blood. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It never achieves the bleak poetry and tawdry tragedy of the best examples of the genre, but the understated humor is nicely played by Cusack and Thornton. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Openly embraces its noir roots, right down to the femme fatale (Connie Nielsen) who strikes a Lauren Bacall-ish pose in an open doorway and whose eyes are lit by a horizontal slant of light. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
This is strictly B-movie fare. It tries to do some of the same things as "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" and suffers as a result of the comparison. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeFore
A little more "Grifters" would have gone far here. Not toward making the film palatable for the mainstream, perhaps, but at least toward selling its neo-noir story to an audience already inclined toward such seedy material. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
It's a dark lark, no more and no less, a caper comedy full of enough kinky jokes to remind the audience that, indeed, you're supposed to laugh at it every now and again. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The nasty, violent material has two small beacons of hope - Nielsen as a fair-weather stripper in the manner of old film-noir dames, and Quaid as a scurvy ­mobster who hates being cheated. With his puffy, reddened face, Quaid looks like a bad Santa. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
An additional change in the film's adaptation from Scott Phillips' novel substitutes the author's original ending for a redemptive conclusion that seems indicative of The Ice Harvest's unwillingness to really plumb the real depths of the darkness it has set in motion. Read full review
50
Film ThreatMichael Ferraro
For a comedy, it isn't that funny. For a thriller, it isn't that thrilling. In short, it would have been a much better movie if focused on either/or. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Ice Harvest's plot sounds like an antidote to the season's holiday sweetness. And it's being touted as this year's Bad Santa. But the only similarities are the holiday season, the criminal milieu and Thornton. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
The Ice Harvest is not "Bad Santa" redux. It has comic moments - primarily from Oliver Platt, in fine drunken stupor - but Ramis' tiptoe into film noir isn't really a comedy. Read full review
40
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Black comedy? Black enough, but they muffed the other word. Robert Benton and Harold Ramis, put on dunce caps and go stand in the corner. Read full review
40
EmpireAdam Smith
A decent enough little B-movie which delivers some pleasingly weird violence and endless plot reversals. But there’s still a mild sense of pointlessness to the whole thing and the feeling that in different hands it could have been much better. Read full review
30
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
There is very little fun in The Ice Harvest, which wouldn't pose a problem if the film had some fleshed-out ideas to go along with the booze, the booty and the recycled plot points. Read full review
25
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Goes awry within moments and never gets on track. The scripters and director Harold Ramis have no idea whether to aim for cynical humor, film-noir romance or post-crime tension, so they miss all three targets completely. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleNeva Chonin
What a waste. Read full review
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