There’s no quiet like the quiet following a winter storm. I’ve lived through ice storms in the Northeast. They’re not pleasant. Neither is “The Ice Storm,” director Ang Lee’s 1997 meditation on 1970s mores. Groovy, earth-toned freedom is stripped to its decadent core. Then the forces of nature have their way, leaving emptiness. This might be one of the most perfectly cast films ever, from Kevin Kline’s waspy obliviousness to the fumbling, freckle-faced innocence of various teenage boys. And then there’s Joan Allen and Sigourney Weaver, teaching us the difference between the ice that numbs and the ice that burns.
Archives for posts with tag: 1970s
The late 1970s were a time of moral ambiguousness in America. Symbolizing that era are the morally ambiguous protagonists of “The Nice Guys” (2016). Ryan Gosling (drunken detective but well-meaning single father) and Russell Crowe (sadistically violent goon with a heart of gold) team up to crack a murder case. Hijinks ensue. There’s lots of people accidentally getting shot (yet when people shoot at each other on purpose, they’re always missing). There’s also lots of era-inappropriate speech and items (crime-scene tape in 1977?), and other terrible production values (leisure suits that go from soaking wet to bone dry in minutes).
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