A Thanksgiving You'll Never Forget
After you've feasted on turkey and pumpkin pie, settle in for "The Ice Storm."
It’s probably no surprise that we often associate certain movies with specific holidays. For example, It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, and Elf are all movies people enjoy watching every year as Christmas approaches in December.
At Easter, there are a wide selection of religious films that have become holiday traditions for families to view together every year. And for those of us who grew up in the 60s, we’ll always associate Easter Sunday with The Wizard of Oz since it was always shown on television that night.
However, there aren’t too many movies that we associate with Thanksgiving other than the perennial favorites Planes, Trains and Automobiles and the delightful Pieces of April.
But the Thanksgiving film I watch every year is Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)
Set during the Thanksgiving weekend of 1973 in New Canaan, Connecticut, The Ice Storm is a drama based on the acclaimed novel by Rick Moody. Both the novel and the film focus on two upper middle-class families who are neighbors in a heavily wooded area outside the city.
The Hoods are Ben (Kevin Kline); his wife, Wendy (Joan Allen) and their kids, Paul (Tobey McGuire) and Wendy (Christina Ricci). Paul has been away at a prep boarding school but has come home for the holiday weekend. Just up the walking trail are their neighbors, the Carvers: Jim (Jamie Sheridan); his wife, Janey (Sigourney Weaver), and their two sons, Mikey (Elijah Wood), and Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd).
By 1973, the sexual revolution had reached the suburbs. But as portrayed in The Ice Storm, it doesn’t seem like most of the characters are enjoying it.
You see, Ben is having an affair with his neighbor, Janey. Ben’s wife, Elena, who is aware of her husband’s infidelity, finds herself unable to open up and adjust to the new sexual freedom. She brushes off the not so subtle offers for sex by her liberal minister. Instead, Elena represses her anger and acts out her resentment by shoplifting.
Their daughter, Wendy, is the only politically aware character in the movie. She spends her time watching the Nixon scandal on television and making sexual overtures to both Mikey and his younger brother, Sandy, who is infatuated with her.
As the impending ice storm approaches after Thanksgiving dinner, Paul gets permission to take the train into Manhattan where he hopes to put the make on a girl he likes, Libbets Casey (Katie Holmes). You see, she’s alone in her parents’ Manhattan apartment while they’re on vacation for the holiday.
But when Paul arrives, he discovers that his classmate and rival for her affections, Francis, ( David Krumholtz) has gotten there first. When Paul discovers a bottle of Seconal in the Casey’s bathroom, he gives one to Francis (to knock him out) and pretends to take one himself. Unfortunately, right then Libbets comes back into the room and demands that she be given one of the pills too, not realizing it will make her fall asleep. Soon, both Libbets and Francis are out cold for the rest of the night.
Eventually, Paul leaves and takes the train back home, only to get stranded in the dark after the ice storm knocks the train’s power line out.
Meanwhile both Ben and Elena and their neighbors Jim and Janey attend a party given by their mutual friends in the neighborhood, The Halfords. However, this doesn’t turn out to be the usual gathering of middle class suburbanites - it’s a key party.
At this party, the couples put their car keys into a big bowl as they arrive. Then, after some socializing, the party’s host, Dot, (Allison Janney) brings the bowl into the living room where each woman chooses a set of keys. The husband of whoever they belong to then leaves with that woman.
Meanwhile, Wendy goes over to the Carver’s house to see Mikey only to find out from his younger brother, Sandy, that Mikey went out to the park to look for her.
Eventually, Wendy and Sandy end up in bed together in one of the film’s most tender scenes.
Back at the party, when Janey doesn’t choose Ben’s car keys but instead chooses those belonging to Neil Conrad (Glenn Fitzgerald), the only single younger man there, Ben, now drunk, makes a fool of himself by trying to separate them. He ends up running into the bathroom to hide and throw up.
Finally, the only two people left are Elena and her next door neighbor Jim Carver.
The two end up in Jim’s car and after a very brief, awkward, sexual encounter, attempt to drive home through the raging ice storm. Back at Jim’s house, Elena discovers her daughter is in bed asleep next to Jim’s youngest son, Sandy.
As the storm continues, Mikey continues to walk around outside until he comes across a downed power line. Without thinking, Mikey sits down on the metal guardrail by the side of the road just as the wire connects to it, resulting in his death.
Later, Ben, now sober, walks through the icy covered streets on his way back home when he discover’s Mikey’s body. He carries it back to the Carvers where Mikey’s dad, Jim, is filled with anguish over the death of his son.
That morning, Paul’s train finally arrives back home. Paul walks out of the train car to see his family standing on the platform waiting for him. Ben sheds a tear as he, Elena, and Wendy, and Paul all realize the importance of family after what they’ve gone through the night before.
So why do I love this movie so much? Is it because I was around the same age as Tobey McGuire’s character, Paul, back in 1973? Or maybe it’s because back in 1973 my own father was having an affair at that time with a married woman who lived down the street? Or, perhaps it’s because the movie brings the era back to me with a startling sense of deja vu? Yes, all of these reasons are true.
But, The Ice Storm really is a remarkable movie that more people should see.
First, this film is impeccably directed by Ang Lee.
A native of Taiwan, Ang Lee didn’t arrive in the United States until 1978, so he had no first-hand experience of the early 70s when he began working on this film.
Instead, Lee approached the story as a period piece and spent a lot of time researching the early 1970s, including the popular culture of the time.
The result is an attention to detail that makes the era come alive for those of us who lived through it.
This is especially true in Lee’s choice of music, such as Jim Croce’s "I Got a Name” and later the ironic use of “Help Me Make It Through The Night” during the key party sequence.
Lee also incorporates many touchstones of the era into the film, such as vintage clips of Watergate news reports and the famous “Keep America Beautiful” television commercial with a Native American shedding a tear while standing in a polluted forest.
Interestingly, The Ice Storm is also Lee’s first true American film because it doesn’t have any Chinese characters and/or any references to Chinese culture in it.
As an outsider to American culture, Lee has brought a lot of empathy to the way he approached this material. Working with his screenwriter, Jim Schamus, Lee has found ways to humanize each of the characters so that audiences would be able to better identify with them and their plights in the story. This especially comes through in the fine performances Lee has been able to elicit from his talented cast.
Another aspect of Lee’s masterful direction is his control of tone throughout the film.
From the very beginning of the film, there is a sense of impending doom. This is best identified by the buzzing sound Elijah Wood’s character Mikey keeps hearing in his head. Later, it’s the same sound made by the electrical current from the downed wire that eventually kills him during the storm.
In addition, James Schamus’ screenplay for the film is a brilliant adaptation of the original novel.
In Rick Moody’s book, the story is narrated by an outsider (“Let me tell you a story about a family I once knew”) who at the end is revealed to be Paul. In a wise move, Schamus has done away with this narration and final reveal.
Schamus has also worked to make the characters of Ben and Elena more likeable by softening the aspects of them that would turn off an audience.
In the original book, Ben is an alcoholic and in the last section of the novel, Elena is downright mean. As adapted for the movie, Ben is a befuddled lost soul until he realizes the importance of his family at the end of the story. For Elena, her anger has been toned down to emphasize her unhappiness with her life and marriage. Thankfully, she no longer acts cruel at the end of the story.
Another device Schamus brilliantly uses in his screenplay adaptation is to crosscut scenes between the different groups of characters at the same time.
For example, while Ben and Janey are in her waterbed having their latest rendezvous, unbeknownst to them, their oldest kids are also having a rendezvous of sorts downstairs at the same time in the family’s den.
When Janey abandons Ben and leaves the house, Ben gets dressed and wanders around the house only to discover his daughter, Wendy, in a compromising position with Janey’s son, Mikey in the family’s den. He confronts her by asking “What are you doing here?” Of course, Wendy asks him the same question.
Later, while Paul is in Manhattan trying to put the make on Libbets Casey and afterwards gets stranded on the train ride back home, Schamus crosscut this with Paul’s parents at the key party, Mikey walking around outside during the ice storm, and Wendy giving Mikey’s younger brother, Sandy, his first sexual experience.
Using this cross-cutting method, Schamus is able to show the parallels between the older and younger characters, while also using them as a counterpoint to one another as well.
The Ice Storm also features amazing performances by its cast of veteran actors and rising young stars.
The talented ensemble Lee has chosen for this film all work together to create realistic and interesting characters. Kevin Kline gives one of his best film performances as Ben Hood, a befuddled forty-something adult who is perhaps the most clueless character in the film. Kline uses his comic sensibilities in an understated way to highlight the confused nature of Ben as both husband, father, and adulterer.
Likewise, Joan Allen’s portrayal of Elena deftly channels the unhappiness and inner-rage that simmers under the surface of her calm and logical demeanor. At the same time, Allen is also able to show Elena’s vulnerability too, especially in the scene where she gets caught shoplifting at a local drugstore.
Sigourney Weaver is also great as Elena’s next door neighbor, Janey Carver. Weaver excels at showing Janey’s sexual prowess and icy cold demeanor. This is clearly evident in comments she makes during her waterbed tryst with Kevin Kline’s Ben Hood: “You’re boring me. I already have a husband. I don’t particularly need another one.” Then she walks out of the room and drives off in her car, leaving Ben alone on the waterbed in the family’s guest room.
And, in one of Weaver’s best scenes, after Jayne catches Ben’s daughter Wendy playing “you show me yours and I’ll show you mine” with her youngest son, Jayne lectures Wendy about how it’s important for women to respect their body as a temple, totally unaware of the irony of sharing this advice with someone else but not following it herself.
As Weaver’s husband, Jim Carver, Jamie Sheridan has the least screen time of any of the adults in the movie. However, Sheridan does a terrific job of making the most of his scenes as the loving, dedicated father who doesn’t fully understand why his marriage has failed or why his oldest son has died in a freak accident.
The rest of the cast is made up of a talented group of young actors. In fact, many of them would go on to become major Hollywood stars just a few years later.
Tobey McGuire gives a winning performance as the Hood’s oldest son, Paul, bringing a good-natured sweetness and charm to his character.
Likewise, Elijah Wood also gives a nice performance as the Carver’s oldest son, Mikey. Distracted and confused by the constant buzzing he keeps hearing in his head (a prescient warning about his impending death), Wood also captures the spacey genius that lurks within his character in the scene where he explains molecules to his younger brother.
Both Tobey McGuire and Elijah Wood became major Hollywood stars just a few years later for their portrayals of Peter Parker in Spiderman and Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
In her first on-screen appearance, Katie Holmes gives a nice understated performance as Libbets Casey, the object of Paul Hood’s infatuation. Adam Hann-Byrd is also effective as Wendy’s younger brother, Sandy. He’s able to convincingly portray Sandy’s struggle as a pre-pubescent teenager that every adult can relate to as they think back to their own youth.
However, the best performance in the movie is by Christina Ricci as Wendy. Perhaps this is because she was already an experienced actress by the time she made this film.
Early on, it’s clear that Ricci’s character, Wendy, the daughter of Ben and Elena Hood, is the smartest person in the room. As portrayed by Ricci, Wendy is the only person who’s politically aware, as shown by her obsession with the Watergate scandal which she constantly watches on television. (It’s interesting to note that none of the other characters in the film seem to care about Nixon or Watergate at all).
In addition, Wendy isn’t afraid to state her opinions or be blunt when necessary. This is best illustrated by the way Ricci delivers her prayer condemning the white man’s treatment of Native Americans before the Hood family eats their Thanksgiving dinner.
Yet, Ricci is also able to show the tender side of Wendy too, especially in the way she gives the younger Carver son, Sandy, his first sexual experience or in the way she embraces Sandy after his brother has been killed by the down electrical wire.
At the time of its original theatrical release in 1997, The Ice Storm received rave reviews from critics. The film also won the best screenplay award at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. Even so, later that year the film wasn’t nominated for a single Academy Award. It’s unclear why.
However, today The Ice Storm is widely considered to be one of the best films of the 1990s. Yet, it is a movie many people haven’t seen or even know about.
As Thanksgiving approaches this year, I urge you to take time to watch this powerful drama for the first time or enjoy revisiting it again. And if the film’s emotional ending doesn’t affect you in some way, then you have no soul.
(The Ice Storm is currently available on various streaming channels and on blu-ray from The Criterion Collection).
I loved this film when I saw it when it first came out and reading your review of it makes me want to see it again. My favorite line that really captured so much is the one you quoted from Sigourney Weaver - “You’re boring me. I already have a husband. I don’t particularly need another one.” That line/scene blew me away when I saw it. It is truly a great film on so many levels and I didn't remember who any of the young cast were but I do remember them being amazing. Thanks for the reminder about what a great film this is. Take care my friend.
Your strongest review to date, Jim. When Ang Lee is good, he is one of the finest directors there are. Your analysis really touches upon the things in this movie that moved me. I am also reminded, thinking about the Moody novel, of carry over into the fiction of Jonathan Franzen ("The Corrections" is set at Christmas - very similar domestic drama characterizations).