Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Nothing happened, we were drunk", December 31, 2005
Things don't work out exactly as planned when a group of childhood friends meet for a weekend of drinking, revelry, and deer hunting in the wilds of Ontario. It's been along time since Vaughn (Martin Cummins) has got together with his buddies, and it's a reunion that has been long over due. But old friendships begin to fall prey to new tensions, as the tightly fuelled testosterone bond between these men begins to unravel.
Long-buried secrets give way to sexual tensions, and tempers begin to flare. When a knock on the cabin door signals the arrival of some surprising guests, the relaxing weekend retreat becomes a dire struggle to salvage what little is left of the group's fragile friendship. Gay Jon (Greg Spottiswood) - perhaps the happiest of the group - falls for Steve (James Thomas), a hunky fitness instructor, who although says he's straight, seems to want to sleep with guys for recreation.
Bryan (David Hewlett) a second rate songwriter and singer is Vaughn's best friend, but he's also friends with Vaughn's ex-wife Renee (Brandy Ledford). Vaughn, full of bitterness, hostility, and anger, is resentful that Bryan still sees Renee. Completing the circle is the dark, brooding Trevor, Vaughn's uninvited black sheep brother. Trevor has a gambling addiction and has come to the cabin to ask his brother for help, yet he resents the fact that his younger and more successful sibling inherited the cabin from their parents. The yuppie Vaughn however, sees his wayward brother as just another one of life's losers.
None of these men are particularly happy, and many of their issues remain unsolved. Steve immediately shuts down any further discussion of his night with Jon by telling him "nothing happened, we were drunk." And Trevor and Vaughn's troubled relationship remains just as enigmatic and fraught with problems by the film's end - their old family scores remaining unsettled.
Everyone seems to want to unload their insecurities and secrets but none of them are prepared to listen, when a drunk Bryan tries to tell Trevor about his infidelities, Trevor replies "I don't want your secrets." So rather than talk out their feelings, the guys pass the time by playing poker, getting drunk, and swapping jibes and gas jokes in the Jacuzzi; they even have a game of ice hockey, where the poor Jon gets the worst of it.
Ice Men is gritty, thought provoking, and disturbing, it's a beautifully acted film that not only exposes male vulnerability, but also explores the varying degrees of male sexual ambiguity. The interior lives of these macho men are gradually exposed and while the air outside is thick with snow - bitingly captured in brilliant camera work - the air inside is thick with tensions: broken hearts, sibling rivalry, childhood fears, financial desperation, and even sexual desire. Mike Leonard December 05.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reunions and their Consequences, December 25, 2005
Thom Best of 'Queer as Folk' directs this taut story by Michael MacLennan, a tale of how friendships since childhood are altered by life's flow and the difficulties inherent in attempting restoration.
Vaughn (Martin Cummins), distraught over being tossed by his ex Renee (Brandy Ledford), invites his three best friends to his snowbound cabin somewhere in Canada for a weekend of fun, hunting and drinking. Vaughn's parents are now dead and he has taken over the family cabin that held memories of his childhood, both the good and bad aspects of it. The three friends arrive: Jon (Greg Spottiswood) is now a gay man; Steve (hunky James Thomas) is a personal trainer involved with a demanding girlfriend whom he must call constantly to reassure; and Bryan (David Hewlett) an alcoholic songwriter and singer who is on the skids and whose wife is Renee's best friend. Into this mix enters Vaughn's older estranged brother Trevor (Ian Tracey) who has spent his life gambling and comes to request his share of the brothers' inheritance to pay off gambling debts. And to further complicate matters, Renee shows up to 'get her things' and flaunt her decision to leave Vaughn in front of his friends.
In this frozen setting each of the men unearths secrets and demons: no one is who they appear to have been as childhood friends. There is a devastating schism between Vaughn and Trevor magnified by their childhood history of abuse by their hunter father, a sexual encounter between Jon and Steve that reveals much about each, and another sexual encounter involving Bryan and the visiting Renee that likewise brings the pot of ice boil over. There are no resolutions: none are needed. The story merely lets us observe the consequences of reunions with men whose lives have grown apart.
Well directed and beautifully photographed, the story unfolds in a slow but steady fashion that maintains our interest even though the characters (except for Trevor) are tropes to a degree. The one important criticism of this interesting film is the sound editor's problem: the conversations are often drowned in music or spoken so softly that the messages are indecipherable. And that is a shame, because otherwise this is a credible story of how men interact when isolated together after years of life changes. Grady Harp, December 05
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Captivating Film, Beautiful Scenery, January 4, 2006
Ice Men is the story of a group of friends who retreat to a cabin in the wilderness to catch up on all times. Surrounded by snow with apparantly nothing for miles around, there is a lot of mystery involved with this trip. First one friend, unexpectedly shows up. Apparantly, he has tenstion with another friend. If you are wondering why I'm not mentioning the cast members by name, it's because the character development is decent but they dont refer to the characters by name much. They hang out in the hot tub and drink too much. The men are straight for the most part and boast of girlfriends with nice rear ends and nice breasts but one of the friends finds himself very attracted to his male friend and thinks about touching his friend while he is passed out. His lust is near uncontrollable as he touches his sleeping friends private parts. When his sleeping friend awakes and is accepting of his advances things really heat up and after the hunting trip the next day it's clear things will never be the same for these friends again. There are a lot of secrets and jealousy will rear it's ugly head.
If you have been hearing a lot about the film Brokeback Mountain, you may want to check out Ice Men. This lower budge film has a similar storyline and you may enjoy it. Martin Cummins, David Hewlett, Brandy Ledford and Greg Spottiswood star in the film among others. It's a really captivating film and you will really want to watch it until the very end.
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