Thin Ice (2012)

Touches You

Crappy film

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

With the exception of Billy Crudup's sensational psychopath locksmith who loves his dear mom and presents her with a clock,everybody seems to be walking on thin ice.Greg Kinnear ,dressed up to the nines ,tries his hand at swindling ,but everything he does backfires against him and he is soon overtaken by events: the actor's looks when he realizes he's been had are priceless;the rest of the cast rises to the occasion:veteran Alan Arkin I saw for the first time in "wait until dark" (1967)is a convincing old farmer,and David Harbour makes all his scenes count as a "serious" collaborator.Borrowing a little from HG Clouzot's "Les Diaboliques" (1954) -the dead body in the water-the movie brings it all back home,adding excellent ideas:Kinnear sadly watching the snow slowly melting.Maybe the final "explanation" is too long,but many movies of today opt for an open ending and anyway it's a joy to see the unfortunate loser who urges his fellow men not to trust anyone and takes them at face value.

The sisters who wrote and directed this movie know their subject. They are from Wisconsin, and their father works in the insurance business. This movie is set in Wisconsin and centers upon a man in insurance, albeit I'm sure far removed from their father.Greg Kinnear really is perfect as the slick Mickey Prohaska, versed in the ways of starting up a conversation to sell insurance, but with a debilitating affliction, he is a serial and habitual liar. He smiles and tells one lie after another, as if that's just the way the world works. Problem is after a while everyone who knows him no longer trusts him.Now, as the movie gets going in the frozen north, and Mickey's schemes start to unravel, with the violin music in the soundtrack sounding strangely familiar, very reminiscent of "Fargo", I really started to feel I was watching a different version of "Fargo", with a little "A Simple Plan" thrown in. Mickey Prohaska could have been the fraternal twin of William H. Macy's Jerry Lundegaard, just working in a different industry. And that feeling lasts through most of the movie, as the trouble gets deeper and deeper for Mickey, until near the end we find out that almost nothing is as it appears to be.David Harbour is really good as the new insurance agent, Bob Egan. But the veteran Alan Arkin brings a special life to the elderly immigrant Gorvy Hauer. Lea Thompson is good as always, as Mickey's somewhat estranged wife Jo Ann Prohaska. Bob Balaban is his usual competent self as antique violin dealer Leonard Dahl. But Billy Crudup shows again why he is one of the better, if under-appreciated, actors today, as Randy the locksmith and alarm system installer who goes completely crazy towards Mickey as debts rise and police get closer.In all it is mainly a very dark comedy, and a lesson, even if fictional, in the pitfalls of trying to lie yourself through life and relationships. I enjoyed it, the story held my attention all the way.SPOILERS FOLLOW: As the story develops it appears to be a simple case of Mickey seeing his way out of debt by conning the old man out of his old violin that eventually is appraised at $1.25Million. But his con goes horribly wrong when Randy has to apparently kill a witness, then he and Mickey apparently dispose of the body in ice covering a frozen lake. But it was all a calculated ruse, the old man, the witness, the other insurance salesman, and Randy were not who they said they were, the whole ruse was to get $1.25Million for a cheap violin by processing an insurance claim after it disappeared. Mickey was caught with his pants down, left the frozen north and, as the movie ends, was trying again in the warm south.

Kept hearing about the original movie, "The Convincer" in reviews and was a bit intrigued before the Redbox rental. This is really not a comedy, first of all. A crime, drama, with a bit of comedy, sure. The cool, feel-good reggae song and opening island scene is a bit misleading as the flow of the film gets kind of dark, but flows in a direction that keeps you intrigued as it takes time to kick in. When things do kick in, it does pull you in in an uncomfortable way feeling Greg Kinnear's plight. Even though he plays such an asshole, he's does a great job, he's a fantastic actor. Billy Crudup's character is unexpected as well, he's superb and garners what could be considered the 'comedy' in the film. Alan Arkin and Lea Thompson are great too. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen but the acting is great and the twists & turns are clever and worthwhile of checking it out especially for a dollar at Redbox or on cable where I'm sure it will be in a couple months.

You need to know that this is a comedic crime movie with an intricate twist at the end.The good actors and compelling plot held my interest from the start. The two movies that it reminded me of were Fargo because of the cold, snowy weather, and A Simple Plan for it's bumbling low-class crooks. Greg Kinnear plays the crooked insurance agent who plots to steal a million dollar violin from an old man for whom he is writing an insurance policy. Billy Crudup is very effective as the crooked locksmith who manages to get himself tangled up in the theft. Alan Arkin is great as the old man who plays the patsy but turns out to be the real brains behind a con that was so elaborate and intricate that I find it hard to believe they could actually pull it off. But it makes a great fun flick with a twist.Many people don't like the ending. I thought the denouement was clever, but zipped by too fast to really get the beauty of the con. I wish they had given a few more minutes to the ending.