THE ICE ROAD

US, 2021, 109 minutes, Colour.

Liam Neeson, Marco Thomas, Benjamin Walker, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne, Holt McCallany.

Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh.

Yet another action story starring Liam Neeson as the tough hero. During the 2010s, Nicolas Cage and Bruce Willis featured in even more similar films. However, Nicolas Cage communicates a kind of mania. Bruce Willis always has his smirk. Which leaves Liam Neeson as the more straightforward action star, a man who communicates some human sympathy.

This is a film about a mine explosion and cave in, the need for equipment to be hurried to save the men as they have only 30 hours of oxygen left, 26 surviving underground, the finding of truck drivers to drive on highly dangerous roads. Which is where the title comes in. Everything was photographed in the Canadian province of Manitoba, the mine situated in the extreme north, snow and ice country. In different seasons, roads are opened and closed, depending on the layers of ice on the Ice Road. With this kind of scenario, we know what kind of film we are watching.

But the point needs to be made that this is an action adventure rather than a documentary. Some bloggers have been at pains to point out a whole range of inconsistencies in truckie behaviour, management, details of haulage, declaring that this is not the way things are done. This is a kind of complaint that is made by some police when they watch films and television shows, by clergy wanting to point out that this is not the way things happen… For those who share these presuppositions, better not to watch.

However, it needs to be stressed that this is an action adventure, the contriving of crises and dangers, a work of popular fiction to excite the imagination rather than to analyse structures, methods, engineering.

And, at that level, The Ice Road literally keeps us on the move. Liam Neeson plays Mike, an ageing but sympathetic truckie, always concerned about his brother, Gurty (Marcus Thomas quite an engaging performance) who suffers from aphasia, getting the two brothers regularly fired. But, it means they are at hand, Gurty proving that whatever the mental and language disabilities, his ability with his hands and machines is expert (and has plenty of opportunity to illustrate this). The boss at the central station, Laurence Fishburne, also sets out with a truck as does a rather disgruntled young Native American, Tantoo (Amber Midthunder) is let out of jail because she knows the roads will and is a tough truckie.

Everything that could go wrong does go wrong – more even than we might have anticipated. There are engine breakdowns. There is breaking ice. There is tampering with fuel. There is dynamite on board. And, there is an insurance actuary on board (Benjamin Walker) who, we suspect, is not the pen pusher that he seems. It means also that there are quite a number of fights along the way, quite a number of chases, and, just when the end seems to be in sight, an avalanche.

Intercut with all the travel along the Ice Road are the scenes of the men underground, able to tap out messages and receive them, becoming desperate about survival and the oxygen running out.

For a reviewer who has never driven a truck and never will, especially along The Ice Road, this is the kind of action adventure that is entertainingly exhausting, and the reaction is something of an enthusiastic Whew!

1. A Liam Neeson hero action show? His building up his reputation as this kind of screen figure?
2. The locations in Manitoba, the North, the mine, offices and underground, the snow country, mountains, avalanches, the Ice Road, the dangers? Sequences in North Dakota, truck drivers, depots? Winnipeg? The musical score?
3. The introduction to Mike, truck driver and experience, working with Gurty, brothers, Gurty and Aphasia, the effect, not following orders, being fired? Their hopes for buying a rig?
4. The situation in the mine, in North Manitoba, the explosions, the men trapped, 30 hours of air, discussions amongst themselves, Lampard in charge, Cody and his help, the discussion about killing others to save oxygen, the revelation that the men had been paid by the authorities to sabotage the mine? The tapping and the code messages? Hopes?
5. The authorities, the equipment needed, too heavy for helicopters, no landing strip, the need to be taken by truck, length of time, the hazards of the Ice Road? The message for truck drivers, Mike and Gurty going, the qualifications, testing Gurty and his time in fixing equipment? Hired?
6. Jim Goldenrod, at the office, the discussions, hiring Jim and Gurty, Tantoo in prison, her motivations, race issues, Native American, chip against Jim, her knowing the roads, being hired?
7. Varnay, the insurance actuary, his having to be present on the trip, his racist attitudes to “you people”? Travelling with Tantoo? The interactions?
8. The dangers, the hazards with the trucks, the equipment? Setting out, Jim and his breakdown? The attempts to save the rig? His getting his leg tangled, asking Tantoo cut the connection, his death and the loss of the truck? Varnay and his suggestions against Tantoo, tampering with the fuel? Mike interrogating her? Her claim that her brother was in the mine?
9. Travelling over the ice, having to move quickly, the tide following? Mike and his commonsense? Gurty and his support?
10. Varnay and the revelation of his role, the scenes in the office at the mine, the officials in charge, the sabotage? Paying off the miners? Varnay and his having to stop the equipment arriving? To make it seem like accidents?
11. Trapping Mike and Gurty in the back of the truck, their ingenuity in getting out, Varnay setting the explosives, like throwing the explosives?
12. Varnay and Tantoo, his attack on her, travelling with the ring, the plan to create an accident for her death? Her overcoming Varnay, the contact with Mike and Gurty? The pursuit?
13. Varnay out of the truck, the henchmen with the van, motorbikes and skis? Mike and Gurty arriving, the fights, Mike driving, Varnay’s van going over the side, his getting out, the explosives, on the top of the mountain, causing the avalanche? Emptying the fuel from Tantoo’s link? Getting away from the avalanche?
14. Tantoo, driving the truck, fuel running out? The transfer of the fuel by Mike and Gurty? Their getting to the bridge, slippery, the treads, the girders, almost at the end, dragged back, Gurty closing the gate, being crushed?
15. Mike, the confrontation with those pursuing, finally confronting Varnay, the fight on the ice, in the rig, the icebreaking, his death?
16. The authorities, the officials from Ottawa, the story of the mine, the explosion, too late to save the men? And the accidents with the Rigs? The sudden arrival of Mike and Tantoo (and the crash and the branch in the chest and his removing it), the saving of the men, the truth about the setup, the authorities and the reaction, the official and his thanking Mike? The cheque, the brochure about the rig?
17. Three months later, Tantoo and her work, Mike and the new rig…?