Greg Kinnear stars as Mickey, a down on his luck insurance salesman. He is well liked enough in the industry to speak at a conference at a nice warm resort, but back home in snow-bound Wisconsin things are getting worse for him. His wife has kicked him out of the house and he is behind in his bills.
One day while selling an insurance policy to a crazy old man named Gorvy Hauer (Alan Arkin), he discovers that the old man owns a rare violin worth a lot of money. Gorvy has no idea the violin is worth anything, so Mickey offers to buy it for $10. Before he can collect the violin, Gorvey finds out about its value. Now Gorvy doesn't want to sell it, and Mickey is getting more desperate, he decides to break into the house and swap it with a cheap violin. He is discovered by Randy (Billy Crudup) who installed a home security system for Gorvy.
Mickey convinces Randy not to rat him out, and then a neighbor discover the two of them breaking in. The neighbor is killed, and things spiral out of control from there.
This movie is kind of like Fargo or A Simple Plan - Mickey is not a criminal, but desperate and sees a way to make some quick money. He thinks no one will be hurt, but as the movie progresses things get worse and worse for him. It is especially similar to Fargo in the way Mickey is kind of a weasel like Jerry Lundegaard, and it is set in the winter in the same region.
The movie is nowhere near as good as Fargo, but its still a nice movie in its own right. Kinnear is perfect as the fast talking salesman who is always trying to get away with something. Arkin is great is the slightly crazy old man. He doesn't understand the concept of liability insurance, and he calls the insurance guy every time the TV needs to be fixed.
Billy Crudup is also really good as the twitchy ex-con who isn't going back to jail. This is probably the best thing I have seen Crudup do. He is this manic energy that is fun to watch, and his scenes with Kinnear are a lot of fun.
My only complaint with this movie is the ending. There is a twist to it that changes the entire movie and it doesn't really fit. I shouldn't complain too much, because it was unexpected and it was better than ending with a simple shootout or something. But the end just felt wrong.
But that aside, I really enjoyed Thin Ice while I was watching it.
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