Thin Ice Review

                          Thin Ice is a dark comedy written by sisters Jill and Karen Sprecher, and directed by Jill. Although the Sprecher sisters have claimed that this is not "their" film, that did not stop me from enjoying it. The film is a very funny comedy about an unlikable insurance agent named Mickey (Greg Kinnear.) He is divorced from his wife (Lea Thompson) who works with him, and their last decision together was not to tell everyone in the office they are no longer together. One day, Mickey is inspecting the house of Gorvy (Alan Arkin), an old man who he has convinced to buy an insurance plan. It is then that Mickey finds out Gorvy has a very valuable violin that he does not know about. When Mickey attempts to switch the expensive violin for a cheap replica, security man Randy (Billy Crudup) kills a certain someone who I choose not to give away, and blackmails Mickey to do what he wants in exchange for Mickey not going to jail.

                         Say what you will about this film (it is, after all, a film for acquired tastes), but Thin Ice sucked me in from the first line, which involves a speech by Kinnear about communication. By far the best thing about the film, though is the acting. Kinnear, a very likable actor plays a completely reprehensible character here, and it gets to showing that Kinnear is a very versatile actor. Also, Crudup who has proved to be a phenomenal actor in such films as Almost Famous, Watchmen, and Big Fish gives yet another excellent performance. Randy is a character who you can't really root for, but you can't really root against. He is giving a despicable guy his comeuppance while he himself is a terrible person. Crudup is especially good here because he makes you see the good in Randy, while still managing to be pretty evil. I also liked the supporting cast, including Arkin, Thompson, and David Harbour as Kinnear's hopelessly incompetent assistant.

                        The film can not be reviewed, however, without me giving my opinion on the twist. While this twist is going to anger many people, there are also going to be people like myself  who thinks the twist is great. The twist, which some will accuse of being a cop out twist, or a lame twist was, in my opinion, one of the best twist endings I've ever seen. Simply put-if you are looking for a twist in the form of The Usual Suspects, you are going to be sadly disappointed. If you're looking for a cool, weird, and wacky twist ending that is unlike most others, you will be surprised and delighted at this twist ending.

                        Jill and Karen, who previously did the light office comedy Clockwatchers, and the drama Thirteen Conversations About One Thing go into dark comedy territory, and do very well at it. Both Clockwatchers and Thirteen Conversations About One Thing were films I loved. Those dealt with more realistic views on the world. Thin Ice is a less realistic view on society, and at that, deals with something that rarely happens in real life. The sisters here have made something more along the lines of The Coen Brothers, and do a very nice job at it.Thin Ice is a very fun time at the movies if you're looking for something different from the Sprecher sisters.
(4 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for language and brief violent and sexual content)