The Ice Harvest (2005)

Director:

Harold Ramis

Writers (WGA):

Richard Russo (screenplay) &
Robert Benton (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

23 November 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Thick Thieves. Thin Ice.

Plot:

A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Christmas Eve | Strip Club | Kansas | Ice

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

John Cusack	...	Charlie Arglist
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Vic Cavanaugh
Lara Phillips	...	Rusti
Bill Noble	...	Culligan
Brad Smith	...	Ronny
Ned Bellamy	...	Sidney
Connie Nielsen	...	Renata Crest
Mike Starr	...	Roy Gelles
T.J. Jagodowski	...	Officer Tyler
Meghan Maureen McDonough	...	Francie
Tab Baker	...	Dennis
Frank Gallo	...	Restaurateur
William Dick	...	Manager
Oliver Platt	...	Pete Van Heuten
David Pasquesi	...	Councilman Williams
Laura Whyte	...	Dottie
Steve King	...	Stan
Caroline Gehrke	...	Melissa
Justine Bentley	...	Sarabeth
Max Kirsch	...	Spencer (as Max Kirsh)
Shana Goodsell	...	Christian Girl
Ryan Ourth	...	Boyfriend
Mick Napier	...	Stroke
Lindsay Porter	...	Gladys
Brendan Donaldson	...	Clerk
Randy Quaid	...	Bill Guerrard
Shelby Hyman	...	Shelby
Meredith Maresh	...	Pearl (as Merideth Maresh)
Dalton J. Homer Spaulding	...	Biscuit
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joseph Luis Caballero	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Diane Frances Fisher	...	Lounge Patron (uncredited)
Lori Ann Gerdisch	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Michael Kilcullen	...	Restaurant Busboy (uncredited)
Michael Stailey	...	Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Rick Touhy	...	Santa Claus (uncredited)
Jenny Wade	...	Cupcake (uncredited)

Directed by
Harold Ramis

Writing credits (WGA)
Richard Russo		(screenplay) &
Robert Benton		(screenplay)
Scott Phillips		(novel)

Produced by
Robert Benton	....	executive producer
Albert Berger	....	producer
Thomas J. Busch	....	co-producer (as Thomas Busch)
Jim Fishman	....	associate producer
Richard Russo	....	executive producer
Laurel A. Ward	....	associate producer (as Laurel Ward)
Glenn Williamson	....	executive producer
Ron Yerxa	....	producer

Original Music by
David Kitay

Cinematography by
Alar Kivilo

Film Editing by
Lee Percy

Casting by
Jeanne McCarthy

Production Design by
Patrizia von Brandenstein

Art Direction by
Gary Baugh

Set Decoration by
Tricia Schneider

Costume Design by
Susan Kaufmann

Makeup Department
Karen Lynn Accattato	....	first assistant makeup artist
Mary 'Dugan' Buono	....	key hair stylist (as Mary Buono)
Chelo	....	assistant hair stylist
Deborah K. Dee	....	assistant hair stylist (as Deborah Dee)
Lynne K. Eagan	....	hair stylist: Mr. Thornton (as Lynne Eagan)
Lynne K. Eagan	....	makeup artist: Mr. Thornton (as Lynne Eagan)
Lisa Jelic	....	makeup artist
Jonah Levy	....	special makeup effects artist
Chip Williams	....	special makeup effects artist
Denise Wynbrandt	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Thomas J. Busch	....	unit production manager
Wileen Dragovan	....	assistant unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jennifer Deigl	....	second second assistant director
James Giovannetti Jr.	....	first assistant director
Richard S. Lederer	....	second assistant director (as Richard Lederer)

Art Department
Frank Coronado	....	storyboard artist
Noreen Coyne	....	art department coordinator
Katie Gajewski	....	art department intern
Brad Good	....	assistant property master
Kristin Hanson	....	art department assistant
Michael V. Nichols	....	set dresser
Troy Osman	....	construction coordinator
Kerry Sanders	....	set designer
Larry Szymanowski	....	art stand-by
Matthew Tufano	....	on-set dresser
Phillip Ellman	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gina Alfano	....	supervising adr editor (as Gina R. Alfano)
Michael Barry	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ron Bochar	....	sound designer
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Ethan Eunson-Conn	....	apprentice sound editor
David Flynch	....	foley editor (as Dave B. Flynch)
Jim Gaudio	....	cable person
Paul Hsu	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paul Hsu	....	supervising sound editor
Barbara Issak	....	adr editor
Bobby Johanson	....	adr mixer
Jason Johnston	....	boom operator
Greg LaPlante	....	digital mastering
Tony Martinez	....	adr editor
Branka Mrkic	....	dialogue editor (as Branka Mrkic-Tana)
Rebecca Nicolaou	....	adr editor
Jacob Ribicoff	....	foley supervisor
Lynn Sable	....	assistant adr editor
Scott D. Smith	....	sound mixer
Steve F.B. Smith	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Alexa Zimmerman	....	assistant sound editor

Special Effects by
Bruce Ahlfeld	....	special effects assistant (as Bruce D. Ahlfeld)
Lester Bern	....	special effects assistant
Raymond L. Bernadin	....	special effects assistant (as Ray Bernardin)
Richard Bieschke	....	special effects assistant
Guy Clayton Jr.	....	special effects coordinator (as Guy Clayton)
Russell Elwell	....	special effects assistant
Bill Kennedy	....	assistant special effects coordinator
Nick Lozzora	....	special effects assistant
Mike Lubomski	....	special effects
Carmine Pignataro	....	special effects assistant
John J. Slove Jr.	....	special effects construction coordinator
Jonah Levy	....	moldmaker (uncredited)
Jonah Levy	....	painter (uncredited)
Jonah Levy	....	sculptor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Barb Benoit	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Dennis Berardi	....	visual effects supervisor
Kris Brockman	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Mark Chong	....	technical developer: Mr. X Inc.
Rob Del Ciancio	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Bonnie Dickson	....	tape operator
Sasha Dragun	....	systems administrator: Mr. X Inc.
Shane Glading	....	3D artist: Mr. X Inc.
Rob Gyorgy	....	digital compositor: Technicolor Creative Services (as Rob 'Rev' Gyorgy)
Noel Hooper	....	digital compositing supervisor: Mr. X Inc.
Bryan Jones	....	compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Jef Lonn	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Brian Lui	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Chad Malbon	....	producer: Technicolor
Seth Martiniuk	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Sarah McMurdo	....	visual effects production manager
Vladimir Popovic	....	systems administrator: Mr. X Inc.
Aaron Pozzer	....	3D artist: Mr. X Inc.
Eric J. Robertson	....	visual effects producer
Linda Rose	....	in-house accountant: Mr. X Inc.
Vicki Silva	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
David Singer	....	operations Manager: Mr. X Inc.
Dev Singh	....	production coordinator: Mr. X Inc.
Jason Snea	....	lead compositor: TCS Toronto
Aaron Weintraub	....	compositing supervisor
Aaron Weintraub	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Sarah Wormsbecher	....	visual effects coordinator: Technicolor

Stunts
Joe Bucaro III	....	stunt double
Tobiasz Daszkiewicz	....	stunt truck driver
James Fierro	....	stunts
Steve Fite	....	stunt double
Mark Harper	....	stunts
Rick Le Fevour	....	stunt coordinator
Matthew LeFevour	....	stunt performer
Tom Lowell	....	stunts
Chris Nolte	....	stunt double: Mike Starr
Carl Paoli	....	stunt double: John Cusack
Linda Perlin	....	stunt double
Brian Peters	....	stunts
Scott Philyaw	....	stunt double: Oliver Platt
Scott Philyaw	....	stunt double: Randy Quaid
Shawnna Thibodeau	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Bernstein	....	epk videographer
Cortland Boyd	....	key grip
Donald Carlson	....	first assistant camera
Christopher M. Collar Jr.	....	grip (as Chris Collar)
Jaime Dawkins	....	grip
Brandan Dennehy	....	camera intern
Brian DuPont	....	grip
Joe Gajewski	....	additional grip
Zachary Gannaway	....	camera loader
Chris Glomp	....	rigging gaffer
Daniel Herman	....	electrical intern
Charles S. Hodes	....	still photographer
Timothy Jipping	....	rigging grip
Michael Kohnhorst	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Michael Kohnhorst	....	director of photography: second unit
Matthew LeCrone	....	electrician
Joseph M. Lyons	....	set lighting technician
Blake E. Matthys	....	grip
Mark E. Matthys	....	best boy grip
Jeff Mihovilovich	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Keith Pokorski	....	crane operator: Technocrane
Stephanie Power	....	electrician
Rick Rios	....	electrician
Chris Ryerson	....	dolly grip
Faires A. Sekiya	....	Steadicam operator (as Faires Anderson)
Richard Sobin	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Karina Teismann	....	grip
Scott Thiele	....	grip
Rick Thomas	....	gaffer
Dan Urbain	....	electrician
Mark N. Woods	....	crane operator: Technocrane
Mark N. Woods	....	technocrane operator

Casting Department
Nicole Abellera	....	casting assistant
Sharon D. King	....	extras casting
David H. Kramer	....	adr voice casting
Matt Miller	....	casting associate: Chicago
Marvin Nelson	....	extras casting
Mickie Paskal	....	casting: Chicago
Jennifer Rudnicke	....	casting: Chicago

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Patrick Caulfield	....	key set costumer
Jennifer Jobst	....	costume supervisor
Rachael Ohman	....	costume production assistant
Gina Panno	....	costumer
Heather Pollock	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Julie Carr	....	associate editor
Adam Geiger	....	assistant editor
Dale E. Grahn	....	color timer
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
Jordan Lindblad	....	apprentice editor
Kellen McDowell	....	post-production assistant
Lawrence Howard Williams	....	post digital media operator

Music Department
Nancy Allen	....	music editor
Christine Bergren	....	music legal and clearance
Tass Filipos	....	music editor (as Anastassios Filipos)
David Kitay	....	orchestrator
David Kitay	....	score producer
William Levine	....	orchestrator (as Bill Levine)
Tracy McKnight	....	music supervisor
Alex Riordan	....	music playback operator
Jon Solomon	....	assistant to music supervisor (uncredited)
Dan Wallin	....	music scoring mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Michael R. Cairo	....	driver

Other crew
Stephen Andrzejewski	....	location manager
Jeremy Beiermann	....	production secretary
Senica Billingsley	....	location intern
Maurice Brunson	....	security guard
Harold Caldwell	....	payroll accountant (as Harold R. Caldwell)
Nicholas Carranza	....	office production assistant
Cynthia Castillo-Hill	....	accounting intern
Doug Dearth	....	assistant: Mr. Cusack
Mary Dehne	....	stand-in
Elliott Eisman	....	production office intern
Diane Frances Fisher	....	double
Diane Frances Fisher	....	stand-in
Jay Floyd	....	clearance administrator
Jennifer Zolten Freed	....	post-production accountant: Trevanna Post
Sean Gesell	....	assistant: Mr. Ramis
P.J. Haines	....	chef
Karon Hamlet	....	accounting clerk
Brad Hansen	....	production assistant
Dave Holstein	....	production intern
Rosa Yang Kato	....	assistant location manager (as Rosa Yang Kato)
Michael Kilcullen	....	stand-in
Daniel Kenji Levin	....	production assistant
Aurelie Levy	....	assistant: Mr. Cusack
Pat McCarthy	....	production coordinator
Thomas J. McDonough	....	set production assistant
Heather Lynn Muth	....	stand-in
Tom Nicoll	....	production assistant
Sara Nudelman	....	assistant: Ms. Nielsen
Noel Olken	....	location assistant
Monica Perez Gelbman	....	post-production accountant
Jeremy Pinkwater	....	location production assistant
Adam Pray	....	production assistant
Stefan Rand	....	production assistant
Kim Ronstadt	....	first assistant accountant
Maria C. Roxas	....	location scout
John J. Sahlberg	....	security guard
Nikki Scavo	....	production assistant
Kristin Scott	....	assistant: Mr. Thornton
Brian Chung-Hung Secrest	....	security guard
Anita Showalter	....	stand-in
Amy Sobin	....	script supervisor
Jennifer Sokolov	....	set production intern
Helen Stergiou	....	accounting intern
Adrienne Swan	....	production accountant
Margaret A. Thomas	....	assistant production co-ordinator
Ben Urquhart	....	post production executive
Mahogany Walker	....	extras coordinator
Amber Waters	....	production intern
William Whirity	....	production intern (as Bill Whirity)
Richard Wolgemuth	....	location intern
Richard Wolgemuth	....	production intern
Cliff Zimowski	....	location intern
Cliff Zimowski	....	production office intern

Production Companies

• Focus Features (presents)
• Bona Fide Productions (as Bona Fide)

Distributors

• Focus Features (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Independent Films (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Filmverleih (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2005) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Pyramide Distribution (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Nordisk Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• RTL Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (TV) (RTL7)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2006) (Argentina) (all media)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Mr. X (visual effects)
• Technicolor Creative Services (additional compositing and visual effects)
• Pacific Title (opticals)

Other Companies

• American Roadshow Motion Picture And Television Catering  catering
• C-5  post-production sound facility
• C5  post-production sound services
• Chicago Audio Works  production sound services
• David Kramer's Looping Group  background vocals
• Lakeshore Records  soundtrack
• Margarita Mix  adr recording
• Mill Creek Protection Services  set security
• Movie Movers  star trailers
• Movie Movers  transportation
• Now Clear This!  clearance services (as Now Clear This Research)
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Panavision  cameras and lenses
• Pivotal Post  Avid editing equipment provided by
• Pivotal Post  editing facilities
• Robert Rosenblatt Esq.  soundtrack consultant, "Little Drummer Boy" re-recording
• Sound One Corporation  adr recording
• Sound One Corporation  sound mixing facility
• Technicolor  color
• Trevanna Post  post-production accounting
• Universal Studios Sound Facilities  adr recording (as Universal Sound)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and sexuality/nudity

Runtime:

USA:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Canada:18A (Alberta/Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Norway:15 | UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:12 | France:U | Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Argentina:13 | Norway:11 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | USA:R (certificate #39360) | South Korea:15 | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

Carpentersvillle, Illinois, USA

Company:

Focus Features

Trivia:

The tag line "As falls Wichita so falls Wichita Falls" is the title of a Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays album from 1981.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Mercedes Benz has a Kansas license plate on the front. Front license plates are only issued on personalized plates in Kansas. Also the format for license plates is three letters a space and three numbers. The tag combines numbers and letters.

Quotes:

Charlie Arglist:All in all, i think that went well.

Movie Connections:

References "The Chipmunks" (1983)

Soundtrack:

Let's Be Gentlemen Please

Icy-cold humor, warmly recommended

When the name Harold Ramis is mentioned, a lot of people will probably say "Harold who?". When explained to those people that he directed the wonderful romantic comedy GROUNDHOG DAY and wrote the screenplays for GHOSTBUSTERS I & II, they'll probably say "Oooh, that Harold!". After the redundant De Niro-wrecks ANALYZE THIS & THAT it got a little quiet around Ramis. Now he's back with THE ICE HARVEST, a movie that somewhat differs from his other work. It's been a while since I've seen such a successful mixture of black comedy and film-noir/thriller.

Charlie (John Cusack), a Kansas attorney on the verge of a burn-out, and his associate Vic (Billy Bob Thornton) have just stolen 2 million $ from their boss on Christmas Eve. They're planning on leaving that same night to enjoy their money elsewhere. Charlie also is in love with the beautiful stripclub-owner Renata and hopes that his newly earned dollars will make a fine argument to persuade her to go with him. But an upcoming ice storm makes it very difficult to leave the town immediately. On top of that, a mysterious figure has arrived in Wichita informing all over the place about Charlie. It will turn out to be a night full of surprises where everyone seems to be playing dark and deceiving games.

This movie relies on the statement "Money is the root of all evil". It's slightly disturbing to see how far one will go when a considerable amount of money is involved. Maybe not all of the twists and turns in the plot are unpredictable, but there are enough of them to keep it interesting, all this at a fairly high pace. They provide enough enjoyable moments, with the trunk-scene as one of the highlights. This particular scene leads to a funny discussion between Charlie and Vic about a Mercedes and a Lincoln. All this in order to say that the script and dialogues are more than decent.

Cusack and Thornton deliver the goods, never over-acting it. Besides them there's also a striking performance by Connie Nielsen as femme-fatale Renata and I never thought that a completely drunk Oliver Platt, as Charlie's drinking buddy, could be so hilarious. And it was nice to see Mike Starr and Randy Quaid in some smaller roles. So the complete cast pulls it off quite good.

Maybe THE ICE HARVEST (with the appropriate tagline "Thick Thieves. Thin Ice.", by the way) isn't a movie for a wide audience, because of the grim & black humor and the occasional pretty violent outbursts. But it sure is a welcome alternative for mainstream movies and highly recommended for film-noir-fans.