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No consensus yet.
All Critics (15) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (5)
The effect is stunningly effective, submerging us in a snowy, frozen, barren land with few options but plenty of opportunities for trouble. It is an offbeat gem. Mar 29, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
The effect is stunningly effective, submerging us in a snowy, frozen, barren land with few options but plenty of opportunities for trouble. It is an offbeat gem.
Bill Goodykoontz
An authentic look at life in remote Alaska (the film was shot with a native cast in MacLean's hometown of Barrow) and at a people grappling with drugs, alcoholism, poverty and the limits of an unforgiving environment. Feb 23, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
An authentic look at life in remote Alaska (the film was shot with a native cast in MacLean's hometown of Barrow) and at a people grappling with drugs, alcoholism, poverty and the limits of an unforgiving environment.
Gary Goldstein
If only because of the setting, this is an uncommonly involving thriller. I could call it a film noir, except that the sun never sets in the film. Feb 23, 2012 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
If only because of the setting, this is an uncommonly involving thriller. I could call it a film noir, except that the sun never sets in the film.
Roger Ebert
Unfortunately, the emotional landscape of MacLean's stoic main character, Qalli, is often as blank as the tundra. Feb 17, 2012 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
Unfortunately, the emotional landscape of MacLean's stoic main character, Qalli, is often as blank as the tundra.
Sara Stewart
While Mr. Irelan and a few of the supporting players have some solid moments (the entire cast consists of nonprofessionals), the general vibe is too stilted to convince. Feb 16, 2012 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
While Mr. Irelan and a few of the supporting players have some solid moments (the entire cast consists of nonprofessionals), the general vibe is too stilted to convince.
Jeannette Catsoulis
A sturdy vehicle for unadorned morality and pragmatic justice. Feb 16, 2012 | Full Review…
A sturdy vehicle for unadorned morality and pragmatic justice.
John Anderson
MacLean finds a steady rhythm that nicely captures life in the middle of nowhere. "On the Ice" stays frosty throughout, but it's engrossing if you can adjust to the temperature. Feb 4, 2014 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review…
MacLean finds a steady rhythm that nicely captures life in the middle of nowhere. "On the Ice" stays frosty throughout, but it's engrossing if you can adjust to the temperature.
Jamie S. Rich
Set in a remote Alaskan village, the film's great strength is making the landscape utterly extraordinary to the audience but painfully mundane to its protagonists. Feb 23, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Set in a remote Alaskan village, the film's great strength is making the landscape utterly extraordinary to the audience but painfully mundane to its protagonists.
Chris Fyvie
Stark, unadorned, timeless and yet of the moment. Wear your mittens. Feb 17, 2012 | Full Review…
Stark, unadorned, timeless and yet of the moment. Wear your mittens.
Marshall Fine
DP Lol Crawley's best efforts can't quite overcome the rather awkward performances of the film's mostly nonprofessional cast. Feb 14, 2012 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
DP Lol Crawley's best efforts can't quite overcome the rather awkward performances of the film's mostly nonprofessional cast.
Kenji Fujishima
The sympathetic feature debut of a young Inupiat filmmaker, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean. Feb 16, 2012 | Full Review…
The sympathetic feature debut of a young Inupiat filmmaker, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean.
Ella Taylor
If "Ice" never really solidifies, it's nonetheless the work of a filmmaker whose seriousness is worth watching out for. Feb 16, 2012 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
If "Ice" never really solidifies, it's nonetheless the work of a filmmaker whose seriousness is worth watching out for.
Joe Neumaier
In "On the Ice," Aivaaq(Frank Qutuq Irelan) and Qalli(Josiah Patkotak) are the best of friends while living on the Arctic Circle. At the same time, their lives are heading in vastly different directions. Aivaaq is about to become a father for the first time while Qalli is on a path to college. Still, they go to a party together that Qalli leaves early to visit his grandmother(Rosabelle Kunnanna Rexford). When Qalli goes out to meet Aivaaq and James(John Miller) for hunting the following morning, he finds the two fighting which soon escalates into something much more serious. James knocks out Aivaaq with a shovel and tries to kill him which Qalli prevents, accidentally killing James in the process. You have to commend any movie that takes us any place that we rarely see to meet people we would never have any contact with otherwise which is what "On the Ice" does quite well. In this Alaskan village, there is a tight-knit community where traditions are starting to fade, just as the youth feel they are trapped by limited opportunities, leading to underage drinking. For the record, this is also kind of simplistic and if you want to shock me with teenage drinking, then you are thirty years too late. But the movie manages to just twist the usual pardigms enough to make it interesting. Just remember. Stay in school and don't do drugs.
Super Reviewer
An Alaskan thriller that benefits from its locations and cinematography, efficiently exploring the white vastness of the snow and the atmosphere of isolation. However, the amateurish actors put in weak, irregular performances, while the unoriginal script does not offer any surprises.
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