Release Details

Title: Ice Men

Release Date: 12/20/2005

Label/Distributor: Wolfe Video

Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Retail Price: $24.95

Genre: Drama

Cast: David Hewlett

Running Time: 108

DVD Video Options: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen

DVD Audio Options: English, Dubbed

UPC Code: 754703762511

Vaughn has invited his best friends up to the family cabin for a winter weekend of male bonding and to celebrate his most devoted pal Bryan's birthday. But when Vaughn's brother Trevor unexpectedly shows up, things get tense. To further complicate matters, Bryan isn't quite the doting pal Vaughn has depended on for years. And then there is Jon, a closeted gay man who lets his attraction to his friend Steve lead to a seduction. Card games, drinking, a hunting party and ice hockey become more than mere games, as old and new secrets are revealed.


Tipsheet Reviews
Drama

Ice Men

By Ed Hulse 10/31/2005

Color, NR (mature themes, language, sexual situations), 108 min., DVD only $24.95

First Run: L, Dec. 2004, <$1 mil.

Street: Dec. 20, Prebook: Nov. 8

Cast: Martin Cummins (Smoke Screen), David Hewlett (TV's Stargate: Atlantis), Greg Spottiswood (All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story), James Thomas (Minor Adjustments)

Director: Thom Best

WOLFE

Story Line: A winter weekend of male bonding staged by Vaughn (Cummins) to celebrate the birthday of his best friend, Bryan (Hewlett), becomes unexpectedly tense when both his ne'er-do-well brother (Ian Tracey) and estranged girlfriend Renee (Brandy Ledford) show up at the family's cabin in the wilderness.

Bottom Line: Cinematographer Best makes an impressive directorial debut with this engrossing drama, which boasts production values of major-studio quality. With much of the action taking place in a cabin's main room, Ice Men inevitably seems like a stage piece, but Best's steady pacing, variety of camera angles and occasional changes of scenery keep it from being bogged down. Wolfe specializes in character-driven dramas with gay and lesbian themes, and a fair-sized chunk of this film is devoted to the dilemma faced by a closeted gay man (Spottiswood), who wants to make a move on a childhood friend (Thomas). The actual homoerotic content is limited to one passionate embrace and some kissing, although the atmosphere is charged with sexual tension. A generally well-written exploration of male bonding and the male psyche, Ice Men has the potential to break out of its niche, and it's perfectly acceptable for mainstream audiences.

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