terrible... so disappointed.

A Major Disappointment

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The gardener Fred Phillips finds a discomposed body in the ice house of an estate where Diana Goode, Anne Cattrell and Phoebe Maybury are living. Molly Phillips is the cook. D.C.I. Walsh is investigating with his younger partner D.S. McLoughlin (Daniel Craig). Walsh suspects Maybury right away after investigating her husband's disappearance ten years previously. Goode and Cattrell rent separate wings of the estate. Many in the small town spread rumors of the women's lesbianism.It's a three hour 2-parter and there is probably enough material for one and half hour. The acting is solid and there is a younger Daniel Craig earning his stripes. The movie needs to be quicker but the long running really gets into the way. The start is pretty good but it slowly runs out of steam. The solid acting struggles to maintain interest.

The Ice House at first appears to be your typical English murder mystery. Gradually some differences emerge:1. the pace is quite slow, much closer to a real investigation.2. your sympathies are with the suspects. You can see why they are sick of co-operating with such loutish police asking the same questions over and over, making all manner of accusations. The police are smirking, rude, bullying, homophobic.3. You don't know for sure if the various murders actually happened, and if so, who was murdered. This multiplies the number of possibilities exponentially.4. The townspeople are revolting. Based on rumours they are sure who the culprits are and are keen on vigilante justice. They are brutish and stupid, far scarier than any murderer.5. Daniel Craig (of later James Bond fame) plays the second in charge inspector. He is an alcoholic. He undisciplined. He is even handsomer than he was as Bond, and somewhat scary in his volatility. The chief inspector is a despicable character who ignores evidence and abuses his power.It is quite a subtle film, except for the final scene when Craig gives the townspeople a dressing down they will never forget. This movie requires patience and lots of thinking. It about characters, not plot.

First I, even at my age, saw and took REAL notice of Daniel Craig was in "The Ice House". I thought to myself hubba, hubba (showing my age with that expression) and then watched out for him. When I saw "Layer Cake" I had no doubt that Daniel Craig will make as good a James Bond as Sean Connery and I just saw the new Bond film yesterday. He was a great James Bond equalling Sean Connery in my view much better than Pierce Brosnan (who is very good looking but lacks the killer spark) and silly Roger Moore who I don't think could land a punch on anything much less do any of those stuns and just painful to watch. I am actually well over the Bond movies as the computerized stunts irritate me but enjoyed this new film just watching Daniel Craig's lips!

"The Ice House" was I think the first, and easily the best, of the crime thrillers that shot author Minette Walters to bestseller status in Britain. Defined by strong characterisation and a sharp, well paced story, it has weathered well. The film made of the book is easily as good if not better, capitalising on strong acting, particularly Daniel Craig in the ascendant as an unlikely, wonderfully flawed hero. The excellent supporting cast fleshes out the background and helps draw you in to a believable world. Essentially the film contains all the elements I love in entertainment: well-defined human characters interacting with intelligent dialogue; crime, drama, a thread of romance shaded with darkness. A cracking film, well worth a watch. You never know – might even convert some of those Craig-as-Bond haters