everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Set in the snowy Midwest like "Fargo", "Thin Ice" seems like "Fargo" light. The convoluted story-line piles on problem after problem for our somewhat sympathetic main character, played by Greg Kinnear. Alan Arkin and Billy Crudup are also involved in this "insurance caper". My main objection to the film is that upon reflection, or perhaps a second viewing, things just don't seem totally "Kosher". I can't put my finger on it, but sometimes believability is stretched like a violin string, if you can excuse the pun. The movie is entertaining, and certainly the script is clever, perhaps just a bit too clever to be believed. Recommended for fans of "Fargo", "A Simple Plan", and others of the type. - MERK

I can't believe all the butter up tossed into the laps of the Sprecher sisters when they told critics more than 20 minutes of this film was re edited without their approval. Greg Kinnear is great as an insurance salesman pulled into a scheme to steal farmer Alan Arbus's violin worth 25,000 dollars only to have locksmith Billy Crudup murder the neighbor and blackmail Kinnear into helping him cover up the crime. The snowy streets, ice ponds and backwood bars provided a suspenseful atmosphere to this noir comedy/drama until just 90 minutes in a cheery narrative tells us the farmer staged the whole thing, a management office paid him to do it, etc. It just got me lost it was so long and talky. Like Roger Ebert noted, it was a great drama unfolding in the real and unplanned sense until the hokey voice over arrived. The Sprechers seem to have liked their characters so much they could not give them a negative resolution or denouement of any kind. It seems dad was selling insurance and maybe he wouldn't sign a life story release or they just couldn't hurt his feelings. I kept thinking "Push Billy Crudup into the ice pond, you idiot. Make up your mind about something." Unfinished film project rates a D plus.

Better not to know too much about the plot before you see this fun movie. It's hard not to think of the Coen brothers and "Fargo" while watching.Pitch perfect cast. Greg Kennear makes used car salesmen look good compared to isurance salesmen. Pleasant enough but seems a bit slow and dull until Billy Crudup shows up as the over the top locksmith. He speaks loudly and carries a big hammer. Crudup lights a rocket under everyone and the movie takes off.There's a bright happy original score that shines light on this dark comedy. If you feel it is a tad slow at the start hang in there, it makes up for it as it races to a conclusion.It may not get a wide distribution but it's worth seeking out. After you see it, don't tell your friends too much. Just send them.

I was a bit intrigued to see how the new, re-cut "The Convincer" would stack up to its predecessor. To be honest, I was a bit bias from the start, particularly given the title change to "Thin Ice" Either way, this film lacks structure. I feel like that, in an attempt to make it to the 90 minute marker, it has sacrificed much of its plot. Scenes jump too quickly, and the characters are not allowed to develop as well as they were in "The Convincer". The most important thing to remember when making a suspenseful film is to allow the suspense to develop. Am I crazy to think this? Did the producers simply decide that this had to be a certain length, and then adjust the plot as such? That's how I felt while watching this film. There is some true potential amidst all of this though - the chemistry between Alan Arkin and Greg Kinnear is only magnified by the addition of Billy Crudup, whose edgy character brings an "anything can happen" dynamic to the plot.Unfortunately I still can't get past the jumpy editing and floundering sound track. I'm not well adversed on the business side of film, but this newer version left me disappointed. I'm going to go ahead and point my finger at Werc Werk Works. But that's just me.