The Sprecher sisters have moved into Coen brothers territory with this dark comedy featuring Greg Kinnear as a hapless con man and Alan Arkin as his intended mark, set in snowy Wisconsin. Jack and I liked it a lot on Sunday. The Coens don't have to worry, since director/co-writer Jill Sprecher's last movie, the excellent ensemble piece Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, was released in 2001, and her only other feature was Clockwatchers (1997), with four main characters, which I also liked (she also co-produced 11 episodes of Big Love). Karen Sprecher co-wrote all three features and co-produced the same 11 episodes.
Kinnear is always reliable as the guy who doesn't get why he doesn't get what he wants, from the spurned younger brother in the remake of Sabrina (1995), the unhappy neighbor in As Good as it Gets (1997), the unnecessary boyfriend in You've Got Mail (1998), the actor in Nurse Betty (2000), the insane Bob Crane in Auto Focus (2002), the "crestfallen businessman" (that's a quote from imdb) in Matador (2005), the frustrated dad in Little Miss Sunshine (2006), the beleaguered manager in Fast Food Nation (2006), a "hopeless romantic" (imdb) in Feast of Love (2007), the boyfriend in Baby Mama (2008), and the ripped-off inventor of intermittent windshield wipers in Flash of Genius, to name my favorites. I didn't see the mini-series The Kennedys, in which he finally got to play a winner--oh well. Arkin (profiled in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and was in Thirteen Conversations about One Thing) is a hoot as the addled old man, Billy Crudup (I wrote about him in Public Enemies) is scary as the loose cannon locksmith, Lea Thompson (best known as Lorraine Baines McFly in three Back to the Future movies (1985, 89, 90), she also played Jed's girlfriend Laura in The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) and the title character in Caroline in the City (1995-2000), among many) has transitioned well from fresh-faced girl to disillusioned wife, David Harbour (a recognizable character actor in a couple dozen projects) is great as the aw-shucks apprentice salesman, and Bob Balaban (Oscar-nominated for producing (and co-writing the story of) Gosford Park (2001) in which he also co-starred in Robert Altman's ensemble, he is indispensable in all his roles, including my faves: Captain Orr in Catch-22 (1970) which starred Arkin; the cartographer in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977); the concerned colleague in Altered States (1980); the prosecutor in Absence of Malice (1980); part of Woody Allen's ensembles in Alice (1990) and Deconstructing Harry (1997); cousin Ed in Greedy (1994); the boss in Clockwatchers; part of Christopher Guest's ensembles of Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006); the unlikely mobster in The Mexican (2001); the dad in Ghost World (2001); New Yorker editor William Shawn in Capote (2005); and Judge Horn in Howl) is appropriately twitchy as the violin appraiser. A little trivia I found reading through the cast list: the bank teller is played by Sue Scott, one of the Prairie Home Companion ensemble of radio and screen.
The score, by Jeff Danna (brother of Mychael (Moneyball), he's done plenty on his own, including Lakeview Terrace and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) has suspense and moodiness. You can hear a few clips on his website, but even the title of the video on the Thin Ice page is a big spoiler, so save it for later, and instead listen to clips on the amazon page, preferably without reading the track names.
The title was originally The Convincer, from a line in the script. Now I see, from a link on imdb, that after the editing phase a new producer stepped in, and without the consent of the Sprechers, fired the editor, recut the movie, fired the original composer, and added the new soundtrack (more). Jill Sprecher would have removed her name had she been contractually allowed to do so. Apparently the original cut will be included on the Blu-Ray DVD (do I have to get new hardware to see it, I wonder?). There's a strong resemblance to the Coen brothers' Fargo (1996), and though anyone privy to the above controversy (or who saw the original cut at Sundance) has been highly critical, this cut averages 73% by critics and 70% by audiences on rottentomatoes. If I find a way to see the first cut before then, I'll update this post. Anyway, the movie as it stands is still good, but you might as well wait for the DVD.
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