“How are the parental units functioning these days?”
A very straightforward (in plot terms) 1973-set drama principally concerning two middle-class Connecticut families. Ben Hood (Kevin Kline) and Janey Carver (Sigourney Weaver) are having a fling. And since Janey’s husband Jim (Jamey Sheridan) spends a lot of time working away from home, the adulterers have plenty of opportunities to enjoy sexy time – although, at this point in the affair, Janey appears less than thrilled with the arrangement. Ben’s wife, Elena (Joan Allen) gradually begins to suspect the truth, which doesn’t exactly help with her self-esteem issues.
Meanwhile, 14-year-old Wendy Hood (Christina Ricci) and similarly aged Mikey Carver (Elijah Wood) and his younger brother, Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd) are doing what kids of their age tend to do: exploring nascent sexual desires.
The era in which the film is set is very appropriate. Concurrently, the Watergate scandal is unfolding, some of which we see on TV screens, providing the kind of background noise that reflects the cheating nature of Ben and Janey. And it’s the age of the ‘key party’, an example of which plays a significant part in the movie’s last act.
It’s an era of profound disillusionment: a likely crooked President, a still-raring war in Vietnam, the Manson murders still fresh in people’s minds and a spike in inflation (that is set to climb even higher). Understandably, the film’s adult characters are disenchanted – with their lives and with each other. And the kids feel similarly let down by their parents, who aren’t quite the unimpeachable gods they once appeared to be.
Of course, our parents are bound to let us down in one way or other. In Ben’s case, it’s with his hypocrisy (hello, Mr Nixon!). At one point, he catches Wendy and Mikey in an uncompromising position. Nothing too serious, just a bit of fumbling. Anyway, he instantly goes into ‘affronted dad mode’, castigating both kids. Bear in mind that this occurs at Jim and Janey’s home, where Ben has just been secretly meeting with the latter.
There are other generational ripples, including Elena stealing from a drug store and for no real reason other than she’s going through a late-30s’ funk. And this after we’ve already seen her daughter pick up an item without paying for it in the same shop. Although, she was fully aware of what she was doing.
The outlier in all of this is Wendy’s 16-year-old brother, Paul (Tobey Maguire), who is perfectly sanguine about family life and its anomalies, which he observes with wry detachment – and through the prism of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s <i>Fantastic Four<i> (a dysfunctional family in excelsis).
Ang Lee is the ideal kind of director to bring Rick Moody’s novel to the screen. This is an ensemble piece and equal weight is given to each of the main characters, and Lee never gets in the way of the performances, which are perfectly judged. And though this is a well-shot film, Lee’s fully aware that he’s not here to dazzle us with fancy-schmancy visuals. Rather, he endeavours to take an honest, un-hysterical look at messy familial relationships.
The Ice Storm works as well as it does because the drama is adroitly orchestrated and performed. And there are a number of simple yet beautiful vignettes, like Ben carrying Wendy in the snow to prevent her feet from getting cold. At this moment, she might as well be a toddler – to all intents and purposes, this father and daughter are transported back to a time when he was her hero and she was the most important thing in his life.
Later in the film, Ben carries another child – but in altogether different circumstances…
Elektrical Turbulence 