The Ice Storm (1997) on Netflix
In 1973 Connecticut, Ben Hood has an affair with neighbor Janey Carver while his wife Elena looks for excitement. Their children pursue their own attractions as a winter storm approaches.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.3/1064,140 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes85%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1973, the Hoods and the Carvers, two families in an affluent Connecticut suburb, pass a Thanksgiving weekend that exposes their dissatisfaction. Ben Hood, unhappy with his marriage and career, is having an affair with Janey Carver, his neighbor. Elena Hood, his wife, is bored with her life and wants to bring back excitement, though she is unsure how. Their son Paul, away at boarding school, has fallen for a classmate named Libbets Casey, but his roommate Francis also takes an interest in her. Their daughter Wendy plays sexual games with the Carver boys and her school peers. Jim and Janey Carver's son Mikey strikes Ben as odd and withdrawn, while his younger brother Sandy plays with dangerous objects such as toy explosives. As the weekend goes on, a winter storm builds over the neighborhood.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Ice Storm (1997)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While the crew drove through Connecticut at night with hoses and a water truck to wet down streets and trees for ice, they ran into the only real ice storm to hit that area in 30 years; it soon turned into a snowstorm, and about five shots are in the finished film.
- The philosopher Slavoj Žižek has said that James Schamus was inspired by one of his books while writing the screenplay: "When James Schamus was writing the scenario, he told me that he was reading a book of mine and that my theoretical book was inspiration."
- The Ice Storm was first brought to the attention of producer James Schamus by his wife, a literary scout who knew the novelist Rick Moody from Columbia University's MFA program.
- To prepare for the film, director Ang Lee had the cast members study stacks of magazine cutouts from the early 1970s.
- Sigourney Weaver's work in the film brought her the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, among other accolades.
