John Cusack (Pushing Tin, Grosse Pointe Blank, The Grifters) plays Charlie Arglist, a lawyer who works for the seedier side of society.  He has, with the help of a local pornographer (Billy Bob Thornton plays Vic Cavanaugh), stolen just over $2 million from his boss and is about to blow town.  At the beginning, Charlie talks about how the plan works perfectly if you look at every detail and arrange for everything to go as planned. But we see almost immediately that not every angle has been covered and he may have a problem with his erstwhile partner in crime.  It seems that Arglist's boss has figured out the plan and has sent "enforcer" Roy Gelles (Mike Starr from every mob movie ever made) to take care of the problem.

I was surprised that Harold Ramis (Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, Analyze This and That) was the director for this movie because it didn't seem to be his style. But it is his style that took the Richard Rousso / Robert Benton script and made it a perfectly funny thriller. There are usually several holes in movies like this that make me just hate them, but I am happy to say that by the end of the movie, all the loose ends are tied up nicely and I didn't have ANY "But what about...." moments. In fact, when the end of the movie is described by one of the characters, I actually thought to myself, "He has it completely wrong.... That won't happen."

There is one bit of description that will not give away any of the plot that gives you the best example of this movie. At one point, Cavanaugh describes his wife as being on the Subway diet - she eats two foot longs for lunch and another two for dinner. Later on, as a way of explaining how his wife got shot, he describes to Arglist that Gelles had counted on him having more than affectionate feelings for his wife to make him give up where the money has been hidden.

I very much recommend this movie because of the cast. Cusack is a perfectly dry straight man. Think of his role in The Grifters, The Sure Thing, or High Fidelity. Thornton begins as a very trustworthy friend but we think quickly that, hey, he is stealing $2 million with Arglist - he probably is more into ending up with the full amount than half. But we are never quite sure, and that is why Thornton's performance is so great. The femme fatale - because there is always one in a mob caper - is played by Connie Nielson (Basic, One Hour Photo). I kept seeing her as Kathleen Turner in The War of the Roses or maybe Jessica Rabbit. Either way, very sexy and ate up the screen. Watch how Ramis lights her - it is exquisite. Oliver Platt (The West Wing) plays Arglist's friend who is oblivious to what is happening, probably because he spends the movie drunk off his bottom. Randy Quaid (Vegas/Christmas Vacation, Independence Day) is the boss who is being robbed. My only problem with his performance, is he was taking too long to shoot the person he wanted to shoot and that made it obvious to me he was going to get shot.

So if you have ever wanted to spend the holidays in a strip club, or in a bar, or killing a bunch of people in order to make your getaway with $2 million, take a look at The Ice Harvest as a way of starting your plan. And your holiday season.