Year Released: The Ice Road
Directed by: 2021
Starring: Liam Neeson, Marcus Thomas, Laurance Fishburne, Amber Midthunder, Benjamin Walker
(PG-13, 109 min.)
Genre: Action and Adventure, Mystery and Suspense

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – St. Francis of Assisi

It’s springtime and way too late to risk Canada’s notorious ice road, especially if your convoy is hauling three 25-ton wellheads as its cargo. But for the 26 miners trapped in a sealed off passage with their oxygen running out, it is the only way. Liam Neeson delivers the goods in this thrilling testament to courage and expertise, the real kind rather than the faux variety we’ve experienced recently.

After a remote diamond mine collapses in far northern Canada, a 'big-rig' ice road driver must lead an impossible rescue mission over a frozen ocean to save the trapped miners. Contending with thawing waters and a massive storm, they discover the real threat is one they never saw coming.

And it’s about time for Liam Neeson, since his last two cinematic outings in the frozen tundra have been less than thrilling. The over praised The Grey: Pepper Honey Cedar Plank Salmon (2012) was existentialism for dummies. Oil roughnecks channeling Jean Paul Sartre in the snowy Alaska wilderness in a sophomoric effort that couldn’t decide if it wanted to settle for a straight man-against-nature survival film or impress us with its “big ideas” and bad poetry.

In 2019’s Cold Pursuit: Snow Plow Cocktail he disappointed this otherwise avid fan again. “What is it with Liam Neeson and snow filled flicks?” I asked 2 years ago. He should avoid them like the plague. Like The Grey, which fooled the feckless critics always looking for profundity in unsophisticated scripts, that one was also pretty worthless, a sordid saga using violent death for a punch line.

But there is none of that here, and so for Liam Neeson in the frozen flicks department, the third time is a charm. And it is just what we need to rid ourselves of any notions of toxic masculinity tossed out routinely by the naïve and petulant snowflake crowd who would have never made this selfless journey, let alone have had the physical agility and strength even to climb into the cab of his rig.

Tantoo (Amber Midthunder), our second truck driver, has an attitude and wears that chip on her shoulder like a badge of courage, but she knows how to drive and is aware of every danger lurking along the way to Manitoba and the trapped miners, one of which is her bother. Enough skill and motivation to prompt Laurence Fishburne to bail her out of jail for the trek. It also turns out she is in jail because of a past problem with Fishburne’s Jim Goldenrod, who heads the rescue team.

Now about those dangers Tantoo tells us about, or rather tells Tom Varna (Benjamin Walker)about, a company man along to use his actuarial skills to assess insurance risk for the very expensive wellheads they are toting. Three to be exact, with built in redundancy, a rather bland and bloodless admission of the perils of the ice road. They send three truck and three wellheads to insure one might make it.

If they go too slow, the weight isn’t distributed correctly and the ice will start to crack. Too fast and they risk a kind of tidal wave beneath the ice with similarly lethal results.

Rounding out our team we have Mike’s (Liam Neeson’s) brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas), a whiz as a mechanic, but someone also suffering from PTSD and resultant aphasia, a neurological condition that robs Gurty of his ability to speak correctly. Truckers taunt him and Mike overreacts, which is why they have been fired once again and are ready to take on this deadly trip.

One of the best short scenes is Laurence Fishburne testing Gurty’s skills by timing how long it takes for him take apart an engine and put it back together. We are as impressed with Gurty as Laurence is.

And that scene brings up the reason Different Drummer has once again broken away from the conventional “wisdom” of current critics of this film:

“…a hackneyed plot, poorly visualized stunts and characters whose behavior can defy common sense.”

The poor souls gasping their last in that mine would have been better off waiting for the cast of “Ice Road Truckers.” Jeanette Catsoulis

Not to mention the caterwauling of real truckers and their persnickety comments:

“How about when they’re running on the ice Road less than one car length apart, don’t get me wrong I’ve never done it but watching the documentaries every time I seen it the trucks were always a quarter mile apart. Also when he pulled the container out of the side of an avalanche uphill with no snow chains on at all.

“Let’s just flip these trucks back over and get back on the road lol. It’s just that easy on a sheet of ice.”

“Also I wanna know how after they flipped the trucks the red one specifically landing on the driver door how Liam’s mirror wasn’t effed up when he looked back at the black truck catching up afterwards.

***

After 15 months of white-coated wonders and other over educated bureaucratic “experts” taking us on a course as dangerous and circuitous as the ice road, Different Drummer has new found respect for those whose skills keep us all safe.

Three cheers for all those truckers who kept us supplied with toilet paper, disinfectant, meat, and produce this past year. This film, hokey as some claim it to be, is a tribute to the “manly” – no apology here – skill they draw upon daily. There is a lot of engineering know-how behind their jobs and a gritty courage as well, even if they are just driving down concrete highways and not the melting ice roads featured in this film.

***

Incidentally, part of the heft that this essentially B movie hauls comes not from the weighty cargo, but from two of its cast members. Most audience readers remember Liam Neeson from his string of gritty action films starting with 2008’s Taken: Parisian Chicken forging through my favorite, 2011’s Unknown: Berlin Scalloped Potatoes with stops along the way at 2014’s A Walk Among the Tombstones: Spicy Cheese and Pepper Omelet and 2015’s Run All night:Champ (Irish Mashed Potatoes) not to mention the very decent 2020 feature Honest Thief. Few probably remember or have seen his 1993 Oscar winning performance in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, where Neeson plays a German industrialist who saved more than a thousand Polish Jews from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II. His character shows a nuanced progression from a callous and greedy war profiteer to the hero he became.

Nor should we forget Laurance Fishburne’s acting creds. A few years before his pivotal run as Morpheus in The Matrix trilogy (1999) Laurence Fishburne played Othello (1995), the first black actor to play the part on film. No wonder he adds such gravitas to whatever he is in. Or critic Alonso Duralde said, “Fishburne can, of course, read the iTunes user agreement and make it riveting, and as the character stuck with the most exposition, that's essentially what he does here.”

It says something about current Hollywood’s obsession with action thrillers, comic book fare, and endless remakes that these two fine actors find themselves in what is essentially a B movie. But with them aboard, it is a very good B movie.

In its heyday, Hollywood got its scripts from the greats – Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, to name few. Today, films based on great literature are rare.

***

So take a break from this sizzling summer and relish a few hours of guilty pleasure watching a film the credentialed class scorns. That should be motivation enough, right?

–Kathy Borich
🥁🥁🥁1/2

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

So we wanted to go with truck stop fare, especially from North Dakota, where Mike and his brother Gurty have done much of their driving. But we wanted something special, and did we ever find it in Bismarck! It almost persuaded Different Drummer to take a summer road trip up there just for the experience.

Jack’s Steakhouse and Seafood has a menu sure to please any trucker.

And Jack looks like one tough dude, too.

He sets a the tone with this innovation:

DYI Bloody Mary Bar – 1st trip only $3 with breakfast.

Presumably that would be for the truckers just finishing a long run not starting one, we would hope.

Here are a few of the more exotic things from its lavish menu:

Potato skins, pickle chips, Deep Fried Mac’N’ Jack, Steak on a Stick, Smothered Chicken, Fleischeikle (Seasoned hamburger wrapped in dough and deep fried to a golden brown perfection), not to mention Walleye, Torsk, (the mignon of fish and Jack’s classic served with hot melted butter), and Parmesan Peppercorn Butter Sirloin, (Savory mix of parmesan cheese, thyme, peppercorn, and himalayan salt elevate Jack's 12oz sirloin to the next level!)

After much thought, we decided on the Potato Skins. Our Crispy Baked Potato Skins are easy, delicious, and not greasy either. Here is what Holly of Spend with Pennies.com tells us about her recipe:

These easy baked potato skins are deliciously crispy with a garlic buttered exterior and then fully loaded with bacon, cheese and green onions!

Potato skins are delicious and easy to make. We use russet potatoes as the skins hold up well (but save the skins from sweet potatoes, too, because you can eat sweet potato skins and they’re amazing in this recipe too)!

Most restaurant style potato skins are deep fried and then the toppings are added and they’re broiled. While I love them, I don’t love how greasy they can be (and homemade potato skins are so much better).

This recipe bakes the potato skins until crisp and then adds toppings and they bake a few minutes more until the cheese is melted.

And don’t forget the sour cream and chive dip.

Crispy Baked Potato Skins

Ingredients

· 5 baked potatoes (small)

· 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

· ½ teaspoon parsley

· ¼ teaspoon seasoned salt

· ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

· 3 slices cooked bacon finely chopped or 3 tablespoons bacon bits

· 2 tablespoons chives or green onions

· 1 cup cheddar cheese

· sour cream for serving

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine butter, parsley, seasoned salt and garlic powder in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Ensure baked potatoes are cooled. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon, scoop out the flesh leaving a ¼" shell (or more if you'd prefer).

3. Brush both the inside and outside of the potatoes with the butter mixture. Place potatoes cut side down in baking dish. Bake 15 minutes.

4. Flip potatoes over and bake an additional 5 minutes or until slightly browned and crisp.

5. Fill each potato with cheese and bacon. Return to the oven for another 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

6. Remove from the oven, top with chives and serve with sour cream.

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