Thin Ice
ATO Pictures | Release Date: February 17, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanFeb 15, 2012
Throw in a nagging divorce settlement, an unplanned murder, and Billy Crudup - hilarious! - as a raging security man, and Jill Sprecher's film enjoyably fuses cleverness and sheer desperation. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMar 2, 2012
Thin Ice resides just slightly south of "Fargo." Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertFeb 23, 2012
This is a devilishly ingenious screenplay by the sisters Jill and Karen Sprecher. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithFeb 17, 2012
The cheesehead noir Thin Ice presents Greg Kinnear in a role that's almost too easy for him: He's a morally flexible Wisconsin insurance salesman for whom honesty is the least-likely policy. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaFeb 16, 2012
Writing with her sister, Karen, Jill Sprecher rigs up an elaborate cause-and-effect comedy of errors, with Kinnear's predatory protagonist as both perp and victim. I won't say more than that, but Thin Ice is deeper than it first appears. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayFeb 15, 2012
The movie takes some dark, violent turns once Crudup enters the picture, and loses some of its initial soft, regional charm. But Kinnear and Crudup are funny, and the plot does fold together with the kind of cruel logic that these sorts of twist-a-thons often lack. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesFeb 23, 2012
Their inexperience with thrillers is evident here in the cluttered exposition at the beginning and wholesale revelations at the end. In the middle, though, there's a pretty suspenseful stretch. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 16, 2012
It's an entertaining film and a deceptively gritty thriller, and Kinnear conveys Mickey's mounting desperation in winning fashion. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMark HolcombFeb 14, 2012
Working the long con and damn near getting away with it, this kissing cousin to "Fargo," "Cedar Rapids," and "Win Win" makes for a surprisingly entertaining and nonderivative February time-passer. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierFeb 17, 2012
So with a wink, a nudge and a heaping portion of Midwestern charm, Thin Ice reels us in. Comparisons to "Fargo" and other convoluted little capers like "House of Games" are fair, but when taken on its own terms, this quirky drama thrums along in a low-blood-pressure way. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyFeb 16, 2012
If you can get past the rough patches - a slightly sluggish start and a coda that feels like one punch line too many - there is some sinister fun to be had in watching Kinnear skating toward disaster on ice that is very thin indeed. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonFeb 16, 2012
It is Mr. Kinnear's slippery charm that keeps Thin Ice from sinking into the frosty Wisconsin slush toward which it seems to be heading from the start. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfFeb 14, 2012
When a movie is this predicated on aping the Coen brothers (effectively, it should be added, in fits and starts), surprise won't be its strong suit. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 5, 2012
Crafted by writer-director Jill Sprecher and co-writer sister Karen - a filmmaking duo who are sometimes jokingly referred to as the "Coen sisters" - it will erase any lingering memories of "Fargo." Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrApr 5, 2012
The movie never fully clicks. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenFeb 29, 2012
Good performances give this movie a pleasant shine, but in all honesty, Thin Ice relies on too many familiar setups to feel wholly fresh. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezFeb 20, 2012
I haven't watched "Fargo" in a few years, but I still remember almost every scene. I saw Thin Ice two nights ago and cannot in all honesty tell you how it ends. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoFeb 17, 2012
With a handful of blackly humorous jolts and some game performances by a good cast, Thin Ice is a watchable, if not terribly original, piece of Midwestern noir. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. ScottFeb 16, 2012
Thin Ice itself, while not entirely unpleasant, is gnawingly familiar, a slice of room-temperature heartland quirk that tries to blend low-key comedy with violence and mayhem. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineNick SchagerFeb 13, 2012
The icy fatalism of film noir is turned to slush by Thin Ice, a crime saga that reduces its chosen genre to a series of atonal, old-hat clichés. Read full review
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