THE ICE ROAD
***
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Screenplay: Jonathan Hensleigh
Principal cast:
Liam Neeson
Marcus Thomas
Laurence Fishburne
Amber Midthunder
Benjamin Walker
Holt McCallany
Country: USA
Classification: PG
Runtime: 109 mins.
Australian release date: 12 August 2021.
Set in the freezing, inhospitable terrain of Manitoba, Canada, Jonathan Hensleigh’s The Ice Road is a high-octane race against time. With a cast headed by Liam Neeson, and a pretty brief appearance from Laurence Fishburne, this is a good choice for a bit of escapism if you’re in an on-again, off-again COVID-19 lockdown situation, as many of us are at the moment. It even has an impact on the small screen, however, if you are fortunate enough to be able to catch this at the cinema, then do so. The Ice Road’s snowy vistas will take you well away from your current condition. Yes, Neeson is back in his familiar action mode (it’s starting to wear a little thin) but this time he’s not using his fists and weapons to achieve his ends - he’s Mike McCann, a trucker behind the wheel of a big ol’ Kenworth 18-wheeler, fighting both man and the elements.
After a methane explosion, 26 miners are trapped underground in a diamond mine and their oxygen levels are rapidly diminishing. The company responsible for the mine enlists a trio of experienced truckies (Neeson, Fishburne and First Nations actress Amber Midthunder) to carry lifesaving, and very heavy, drill wellheads across a frozen highway that is merely a ‘road’ across a lake capped by ice only 75 centimetres thick. Yikes! If that doesn’t get your adrenalin going, there’s more. We learn that if you drive too fast you can cause a life-threatening pressure wave under the ice, but drive too slow and you sink. To make matters worse, one of the team – the three drivers are accompanied by a mechanic, McCann’s aphasia-affected brother ‘Gurty’ (Marcus Thomas), and a representative of the company, Tom Varnay (Bejamin Walker) - has a sinister plan to thwart the rescue operation. Throw in a storm and an avalanche and, basically, what can go wrong, goes very wrong. Meanwhile, the miners are down to their last gasps of O2.
US writer/director Hensleigh has written a number of original, action-driven scripts previously, titles like Die Hard: With A Vengeance, Jumanji and Armageddon, so he’s very familiar with material of this kind, but it’s easy to see his references for The Ice Road. The Wages Of Fear (Le Salaire De La Peur) immediately springs to mind, for example. It’s a source he openly acknowledges, saying, “Ever since I was a young film fan, I was interested in a French film by Henri-Georges Clouzot called The Wages of Fear. I saw it on television when I was about 10 and it’s become a minor classic about a band of losers who are hired to take nitro-glycerine across a mountain range… The notion of mismatched blue-collar people who have to go on a journey together – one so perilous that no one without proper motivations would do it – fascinated me. I wanted to make an Of Mice and Men crossed with The Wages of Fear. It’s been a 48-year journey.”
The Ice Road might not be the most inventive film you’ll see all year but, in the current circumstances, it may be the most rewarding. It will certainly have you on the edge of your seat for much of its hour-and-three-quarter running time and, right now, it’s a sorely needed tonic for the times. Let it transport you.
Screenplay: Jonathan Hensleigh
Principal cast:
Liam Neeson
Marcus Thomas
Laurence Fishburne
Amber Midthunder
Benjamin Walker
Holt McCallany
Country: USA
Classification: PG
Runtime: 109 mins.
Australian release date: 12 August 2021.
Set in the freezing, inhospitable terrain of Manitoba, Canada, Jonathan Hensleigh’s The Ice Road is a high-octane race against time. With a cast headed by Liam Neeson, and a pretty brief appearance from Laurence Fishburne, this is a good choice for a bit of escapism if you’re in an on-again, off-again COVID-19 lockdown situation, as many of us are at the moment. It even has an impact on the small screen, however, if you are fortunate enough to be able to catch this at the cinema, then do so. The Ice Road’s snowy vistas will take you well away from your current condition. Yes, Neeson is back in his familiar action mode (it’s starting to wear a little thin) but this time he’s not using his fists and weapons to achieve his ends - he’s Mike McCann, a trucker behind the wheel of a big ol’ Kenworth 18-wheeler, fighting both man and the elements.
After a methane explosion, 26 miners are trapped underground in a diamond mine and their oxygen levels are rapidly diminishing. The company responsible for the mine enlists a trio of experienced truckies (Neeson, Fishburne and First Nations actress Amber Midthunder) to carry lifesaving, and very heavy, drill wellheads across a frozen highway that is merely a ‘road’ across a lake capped by ice only 75 centimetres thick. Yikes! If that doesn’t get your adrenalin going, there’s more. We learn that if you drive too fast you can cause a life-threatening pressure wave under the ice, but drive too slow and you sink. To make matters worse, one of the team – the three drivers are accompanied by a mechanic, McCann’s aphasia-affected brother ‘Gurty’ (Marcus Thomas), and a representative of the company, Tom Varnay (Bejamin Walker) - has a sinister plan to thwart the rescue operation. Throw in a storm and an avalanche and, basically, what can go wrong, goes very wrong. Meanwhile, the miners are down to their last gasps of O2.
US writer/director Hensleigh has written a number of original, action-driven scripts previously, titles like Die Hard: With A Vengeance, Jumanji and Armageddon, so he’s very familiar with material of this kind, but it’s easy to see his references for The Ice Road. The Wages Of Fear (Le Salaire De La Peur) immediately springs to mind, for example. It’s a source he openly acknowledges, saying, “Ever since I was a young film fan, I was interested in a French film by Henri-Georges Clouzot called The Wages of Fear. I saw it on television when I was about 10 and it’s become a minor classic about a band of losers who are hired to take nitro-glycerine across a mountain range… The notion of mismatched blue-collar people who have to go on a journey together – one so perilous that no one without proper motivations would do it – fascinated me. I wanted to make an Of Mice and Men crossed with The Wages of Fear. It’s been a 48-year journey.”
The Ice Road might not be the most inventive film you’ll see all year but, in the current circumstances, it may be the most rewarding. It will certainly have you on the edge of your seat for much of its hour-and-three-quarter running time and, right now, it’s a sorely needed tonic for the times. Let it transport you.