Ice Men (Canada)

Another one of those films which is not necessarily gay centric. The film is about male bonding and friendship and one of the characters in the group happens to be gay. So there is a gay sub-sub-plot but there is nothing more to this film in terms on homosexuality than this. nevertheless, the film was still full of flaws.

For the first time since taking possession of the family cabin, Vaughn has invited his best friends up for a winter weekend of hunting and drinking and celebrating one of the guys' birthday. He gets really angry when his all fucked up brother Trevor turns up. Trevor has a gambling addiction and has come to the cabin to ask his brother for help, yet he resents the fact that his younger and more successful sibling inherited the cabin from their parents. As the time passes long-buried secrets give way to sexual tensions, and tempers begin to flare. Gay Jon falls for Steve, the physical instructor who though keeps saying he is straight, does end up sleeping with Jon. Bryan, a bad singer and song writer who also happens to be Vaughn's best friend, turns out has been sleeping with Vaughn's wife which is the reason for Vaughn's impending divorce. None of these men are particularly happy, and many of their issues remain unsolved. Steve immediately shuts down any further discussion of his night with Jon by telling him "nothing happened, we were drunk." And Trevor and Vaughn's troubled relationship remains just as enigmatic and fraught with problems by the film's end.

Ice men is gritty and not very entertaining. It explores the varying degrees of male sexual ambiguity. Acting wise I felt there was a lot to be desired. Since the plot's pace is so slow, it could not hold my interest and I could not really understand the point of the film. The story is ambiguous. Maybe the point of the film is to show how adult men interact with each other when they're alone. Or maybe the point is to show the effect of time, as childhood friends mature into adults.

I didn't care too much about these guys and whatever was going on in their life. (2/10)