The Ice Road (2021)
(Netflix Streaming, December 2022) Little known fact: As a prototypical seven-year-old boy, I really wanted to become a truck driver when I grew up. Decades later, I’ve never handled anything bigger than a moving van, but the appeal of big trucks never faded away in the abstract. So, the prospect of The Ice Road, a Liam Neeson thriller featuring him as a truck driver braving the ice-covered driving routes north of Winnipeg is, shall we say, irresistible. Of course, expectations must be pared down: anyone familiar with Neeson’s post-Taken career knows that while some Liamsploitation movies are more fun than others, none are exactly cinematic gems. Accordingly, The Ice Road hits its stride on the road, and isn’t quite so good when the trucks aren’t moving. The plot is built to justify a three-truck convoy going out late in the spring, defying common sense to roll over lake ice roads that are dangerous by that time of the year. So far so good: but then the film fires its biggest guns early on, losing a few trucks far too soon and going on to less impressive showpieces to round up the film. A better movie would have relied on practical effects, but Liamsploitation films are made on medium budgets, and so we get far too much CGI to care. (Compare and contrast with such solid steel films as Le salaire de la peur to see the difference that practical effects can make.) Some aspects of the film I liked—seeing the truck convoy roll out of Winnipeg’s vast trainyard was a throwback to my visit over there, and having the film delve into First Nation issues feels appropriate considering the films’ setting. (Although the script’s portrayal of how the Canadian government would intervene is not as convincing.) In the end, The Ice Road is a disappointment where it counts: There’s scarcely any weight to some of the action sequences that feature trucks rolling over (and under) a thin layer of lake ice. Furthermore, the film moves too quickly away from frozen lakes to more standard thrills, missing out on many possibilities and inverting the climactic succession of set-pieces. Neeson is not bad (although his “action credentials” here are limited) and Lawrence Fishburne is also quite enjoyable, but it’s Amber Midthunder who distinguishes herself in a prickly role. I still kind-of-liked The Ice Road for what it managed to deliver, but I try not to dwell on what could have been possible had the film benefited from a larger production budget and a better screenwriter at the helm. Big truck goes vroom-vroom and then sploosh, and part of me is happy just with that.