Called the most gifted satirist in America, Bruce McCall made his name in the pages of National Lampoon and Esquire before becoming a favorite of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. THIN ICE chronicles his lifelong odyssey - writing, drawing and laughing his way out of the despair of his dysfunctional family and into the dreamy zeppelins that drift through the New York of his mind. The film reveals his personal and creative journey, from his 1940's childhood in small town Canada to his present day success as a New York writer and artist. Admirers such as writer and comedian Steve Martin, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and David Remnick, longtime editor of The New Yorker, have called McCall a genius.

Ironically, given his stature with the Manhattan literati, McCall is a Canadian who, as a precocious child with a tyrannical father, idealized all things American. For Bruce, America has always been a technicolor dream, and his curse was being born north of Eden. For McCall, "Canada had no Golden Gate Bridge, no Hoover Dam, no Empire State Building; Canada declined to soar in any way. American kids got whistles, rings, glittering prizes in their cereal boxes; all we got was 'Not Available in Canada.'" Based on his sardonic memoir, THIN ICE blends period archival material, home movies and interviews to recreate the story of every Canadian who's ever heard the siren song of the great country to the south.

Filmed in a style that evokes the hyperbole and fantasy of McCall's wit, THIN ICE fleshes out the paradoxes and contradictions of McCall's character: critical of Canada, yet nostalgic for his past; bitter about his father, but still yearning for his approval; at the pinnacle of success, but still unsure of his identity. Bruce McCall left Canada years ago, but Canada has yet to leave him.

"To be Canadian and funny is difficult enough. To do it with the style and wit of Bruce McCall is remarkable."—Lorne Michaels, Executive Producer, Saturday Night Live

"Charming, dryly ironic, told in a bold style, THIN ICE is a rich, rewarding story of growing older and wiser."—John Doyle, Globe and Mail

"Genius? Bruce McCall is just mad 'cause he can't skate. THIN ICE may be the 'Crumb' of Canada."—Rick Moranis

"THIN ICE is every bit as smart as a good 'New Yorker' article and as irreverent as a classic 'New Yorker' cartoon."—Ottawa Citizen

"Wise and witty."—Starweek

"Recommended... enjoyable... entertaining, provoking. It alternates between hilarious, over the top montages describing McCall's early life, interviews with various people (including Steve Martin and David Remnick)."—MC Journal: the Journal of Academic Media Librarianship