The Iceman Cometh

This is a remarkably difficult film to watch. John Frankenheimer's 4 hour epic (239 minutes to be exact) pulls no punches. "The Iceman Cometh" was made in 1973, based off of a Eugene O'Neil play, this depressing and dialogue filled movie will be way too much for most people. I had to break it up into three installments just to push through. With that being said, I thought it was terrific.

The story opens on a shabby old bar in the early 1900s. We are slowly (very slowly) introduced to the various regulars who are slumped in the back room sleeping off the previous night's revelries. We gradually discover that these broken down old men are waiting for someone named Hickey. Hickey comes once a year, every year, and always brings free booze and plenty of jokes with him to liven up the bar a bit. This year however, when Hickey arrives he reveals that he is no longer drinking and has come to perform a service for his old buddies. Hickey is intent on destroying the pipe dreams and lies that each drunk tells himself so that he can accept his lot in life. Hickey has come to get them off the sauce and on the wagon.

The cast and crew are wonderful. The set feels very much like a play, a feeling which is aided by remaining faithful to the source material almost word for word. This film is notable for several unusual performances by all-time great actors. Lee Marvin as the titular "iceman" Hickey puts the tough action persona on hold and attempts one of the most difficult roles in theater. He pulls it off. Jeff Bridges, a youthful 23 when the movie was released, displays tremendous range as a young man attempting to enlist the aid of one of the drunks that he knew from another life. Bridges often claims that this part was the one that made him get serious about acting. Robert Ryan and Frederic March, two titans of cinema, are both playing their last roles here. March as Harry Hope, the hapless bar owner, is the barometer for how the drunks are feeling and calls up the few moments of levity, while simultaneously being an object of pity. Ryan, who knew he was dying during filming, plays Hickey's adversary. Ryan is the only one of the drunks to claim that he is being honest with himself. He pretends to no pipe dreams and claims he is only waiting for death. These four performances carry the film.

This grueling movie provides a harsh look at what people do to get by every day. Self-delusion is the brutal theme. Their are sixteen characters who come in and out of the bar, and each one of them is subjected to Hickey's quest for truth. This adds to the film's running time, but there isn't a poorly written or acted character in the film. Fair warning, this plot has essentially no action and very little development, its a full four hours long and feels it, and it is one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen. This film is not for the faint of heart. But if you can stand it, it is a magnificent cinematic experience.

25/30