MovieChat Forums > The Ice Storm (1997) Discussion > NOTHING like American Beauty

NOTHING like American Beauty

posted 17 years ago by FallenOnDays17
49 replies | jump to latest

American Beauty is a masterpiece compared to this steaming pile of crap. I'm gonna describe why i dislked this film and would please SOMEONE tell me why this film is worth more than 4/10 in my eye.

The only reason i rented this films was because of the cast (elijah wood and tobey maguire being my favorite younger stars) and I read the plot summary on this website (which at the time seemed very interesting)

1.) Acting: The only noteworthy performance during the whole movie would have to come from Elijah Wood. He has such a calm and innocence to his acting that really makes it real. Christini Ricci is a joke and Kevin Kline was mediocre at best. Sigourney Weaver looks like an alien (pun intended)

2.) Characters: The characters seemed very undeveloped and boring. None of them were built upon or given enough time in the movie to really understand what they were about.

3.) Storyline: The premise of the plot was a good concept (i mean look what american beauty did with it) and this taking place in the 70's could of made it a sweet movie. However, Ang Lee just didn't go to far into depth with any of the characters or storylines. It was as if he wanted to cram as much as possible into this movie and ended up failing. The end result was a boring movie where nothing really happens besides child nudidity. ALOT of the scenes didn't really have to be there and could of been taken out.

please SOMEONE tell me why i am wrong.

oh, and this is an insult to have in the same SENTENCE as American Beauty.

Even in my dreams I'm an idiot who knows he's about to wake up to reality.

[–] SeisCinemaSeis 15 years ago

The end result was a boring movie where nothing really happens besides child nudidity

What a moron!

There is no child nudity in this film. Maybe there's lot of it in the sick imagination of the OP but not in the film.
And during the runtime of the movie happens A LOT of things to the characters. So many that they changes their lifes forever. But I guess the deliberate slow pace and the subtlety of the film, were simply too much for the hollywoodesque taste of the OP.

BTW I liked American Beauty but I liked The Ice Storm even more. Another great film by Mr. Ang Lee.

[–] JaysonT 15 years ago

If anything, THE ICE STORM is a masterpiece and AMERICAN BEAUTY is a disastrous attempt to show us Annette Bening over-acting and Kevin Spacey having fun with his ego.

Ang Lee's film is a tribute to sublte style, undertones of humor, classic cinematography, and noteworthy performances from a stellar cast.

The fact that you think Elijah Wood gave the best performance in this movie shows you aren't really that in touch with fine acting. Wood's character is not essential nor attributing. The best performance is by Joan Allen, but let's not even go there since you wouldn't appreciate the ways I can make love to her many powerful moments of substance.

Next up is Sigourney Weaver, who by the way earned a Golden Globe nomination plus countless other critic mentions for her supporting work- and she should have been up for an Oscar, instead of old and bland Gloria Stuart, who's primary reason for being nodded for TITANIC was her age.

Kline, Ricci, Maguire, Holmes, Janney- do you want me to continue.

The writing in ICE STORM is strong. The writing by Alan Ball in AMERICAN BEAUTY is so cliche and contrived, I cringe the more and more I watch it. And I like Ball (SIX FEET UNDER is the best hour of television, ever) but AMERICAN BEAUTY was not on par with Ang Lee's masterpiece. Sorry, but you lose in that respect kiddo.

[–] nonon99_99 15 years ago

And The Ice Storm offers us love to the characters, no matter what mistake they have made in life, while Amercian Beauty offers us obnoxiousness with very little beyond that.

[–] lubin-freddy 15 years ago

If anything, THE ICE STORM is a masterpiece and AMERICAN BEAUTY is a disastrous attempt to show us Annette Bening over-acting and Kevin Spacey having fun with his ego.

Exactly

"Sometimes you have to take the bull by the tail, and face the truth" - G. Marx

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] fortunate1 14 years ago

The more I see Sam Mendes films, the less impressed I am with him (even as I'm totally in love with his wife!)

'American Beauty' was a thin film; 'The Ice Storm' far far better than that.

(I feel sorry for the OP, putting his casuistry out for all to see like that.)

[–] thebigmouth 14 years ago

If anything, THE ICE STORM is a masterpiece and AMERICAN BEAUTY is a disastrous attempt to show us Annette Bening over-acting and Kevin Spacey having fun with his ego.

I have to agree, though American Beauty has grown on me over the years.

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[–] rivieran 15 years ago

I took American Beauty to be more of a spoof or caricature of modern American life, employing various exaggerations at times, whereas The Ice Storm goes much more for true realism as a depiction of the way upper middle class American life really was at that specific point in time.

I think they are both excellent in their distinct realms, and they really aren't very comparable to each other, except in their common theme of modern American disillusionment.

I re-watch both every few years, and I've only found a few minor details in each that I would have done differently. I still rate both 10/10, each based on different criteria.

[–] lubin-freddy 15 years ago

American Beauty, as rivieran wrote, was a caricature, but not a spoof. It went after easy targets.

What I liked about The Ice Storm was the respect shown to all the characters, even those the film was criticizing. No one is blamed for anything, and all are at least understood. American Beauty, on the other hand, too easily blamed the wife for the husband's frustrations.

This is something I love in all Ang Lee films. Take, for example, Brokeback Mountain. Another filmmaker might have made the wives as caricatures, to make it easier for us to understand the men. I especially liked the way he handled Ennis' wife, who was presented in a very human way, not bad, but just unable to deal with a difficult situation, and hurting herself.

"Sometimes you have to take the bull by the tail, and face the truth" - G. Marx

[–] jimmiescoffee 15 years ago

this movie puts american beauty to shame.

[–] Zoomorph 15 years ago

Just saw this, yea I'd say it's quite a bit better than American Beauty. More depressing. More real. More artistic.

Different style too, more subtlety here, more fast drama in exaggerations in the other.

~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~

[–] Stonez890 14 years ago

The Ice Storm isn't as subtle as many on here seem to think. American Beauty works better by poking fun at the stereotypes or cliches than The Ice Storm works as a serious drama.

American Beauty>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>The Ice Storm

[–] Rmiles92 12 years ago

This^

This film is like a mediocre daytime movie, AB is satire. Not sure how Ebert gave The Ice Storm 4/4 on release, but it's no wonder it flopped theatrically:

1) Rambling sentimental narration, cringeworthy stuff.
2) Pretty much all the characters are underdeveloped or one-dimensional.
3) The acting is just mediocre, never great.

It probably does enough to hold your interest but there's never much tension and there's never much humour. It's a case of seen-it-all-before without a standout performance. Dad's having an affair, wife's passive-aggressive with resulting anxiety problems, kids are experimenting with sex and drugs.

6/10

Is this your homework, Larry?