Thin Ice

2012 Comedy

A salesman in a slump turns to a life of crime in this comedy-drama from filmmaker Jill Sprecher. Mickey Prohaska (Greg Kinnear) is an insurance salesman living and working in rural Wisconsin. Mickey likes to believe that he's a talented salesman who can talk anyone in to buying a policy, but the truth is his career has hit the skids, he's struggling to make ends meet, and his divorce from his wife Jo Ann (Lea Thompson) has shaken his confidence. Mickey and his new partner Bob Egan (David Harbour) are able to sell a policy to elderly farmer Gorvy Hauer (Alan Arkin), though Gorvy seems more interested in having someone come by and fix his television than discussing his financial future. One day, Mickey is paying Gorvy a visit when he makes a remarkable discovery -- the old violin in his living room is a vintage one worth $25,000. Seeing an easy payday, Mickey begins hatching a scheme to get the instrument away from Gorvy and into the hands of a violin dealer, but his plan gets more complicated at every turn and eventually goes from difficult to dangerous. Also starring Bob Balaban and Billy Crudup, The Convincer (aka Thin Ice) was an official selection at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. more..

Director: Jill Sprecher

Starring: Greg Kinnear,Alan Arkin, Billy Crudup,Bob Balaban, Lea Thompson

Reviews

  • Throw in a nagging divorce settlement, an unplanned murder, and Billy Crudup - hilarious! - as a raging security man, and Jill Sprecher's film enjoyably fuses cleverness and sheer desperation.

    Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly

    20 January 2013

  • This is a devilishly ingenious screenplay by the sisters Jill and Karen Sprecher.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    20 January 2013

  • If you can get past the rough patches - a slightly sluggish start and a coda that feels like one punch line too many - there is some sinister fun to be had in watching Kinnear skating toward disaster on ice that is very thin indeed.

    Betsy Sharkey - Los Angeles Times

    20 January 2013

  • It is Mr. Kinnear's slippery charm that keeps Thin Ice from sinking into the frosty Wisconsin slush toward which it seems to be heading from the start.

    John Anderson - The Wall Street Journal

    20 January 2013

  • Thin Ice itself, while not entirely unpleasant, is gnawingly familiar, a slice of room-temperature heartland quirk that tries to blend low-key comedy with violence and mayhem.

    A.O. Scott - The New York Times

    20 January 2013

Awards

No awards