THE ICEMAN Richard Kuklinski was a real guy. He claims to have killed at least 100 people. He later claimed it was 250 including Jimmy Hoffa. He was a sociopath so believe what you want, but there doesn't seem to be much doubt that in his time, which fortunately for all of us ran out in 2006, he killed a lot of people.
Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) apparently had an active amateur career as a serial killer before his talents are discovered by mob boss Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta) who employs Kuklinski to kill on his order anytime, anyplace, anywhere. It's steady work.
With this trade, Kuklinski finds financial stability and takes his wife (Wynona Ryder) and kids out to the suburbs to live a life of bourgeoisie splendor, with his family none the wiser about what he really does. (I mean think about it, what could he tell them?)
Director/writer/producer Ariel Vromen's resume is a little thin with only two feature films to his credit neither of which I have seen or even heard of, but he apparently had enough juice to get this thing made, and with a pretty impressive cast as well. His style is grimly straight forward, no editing gimmicks, obtuse camera angles, or slow motion stylized death. Vromen portrays the violence with the illusion of real time. It's quick and it it's brutal, and fair warning leads me to comment the there is a depiction of post mortem dismemberment, nevertheless this movie isn't even in the same league with your average Quentin Tarantino movie in either visuals or body count.
What Vromen has given us is a gangster movie, without the grand ambitions of "The Godfather" or the quirky black humor of the Sopranos. It's about who whacks who, when, where and how. There will be betrayals, double crosses, car chases and all the mobsters will really love their families. So if you like gangster movies, and I do, you'll probably like this one and I did.
Ray Liotta has been a favorite of mine since he lit up the screen in "Something Wild." He has never broken out into the superstardom I thought he was bound for, and he seems to be hopelessly typecast as a gangster, but when faced with the facts, nobody does it better. He's a treat to watch. He has a couple of scenes with fellow evil doing character actor Robert Davi, that together with Shannon form a trio that you would definitely not want to meet in a dark alley. Just ask some of the victims in the movie. The three of them lift the portrayal of menace to an art form.
Wynona Ryder continues on the comeback trail with a solid performance. It's not a big part but she gets a chance to show some chops. Some have commented she looks a little too regal to be a Jersey house wife, but she's not trying to be Snookie, so I think she's alright.
I will point out that James Franco has one scene in this movie, because there are James Franco fans out there that might want to know that, but it is Chris Evans who probably has the best supporting role as the Frostee Ice Cream truck driver who after selling ice cream bars to the kiddies, is probably a more twisted serial killer than Kuklinski. Like Kuklinski, he too is a devoted father.
There is one exceptional thing about this movie, and clearly that is the performance of Michael Shannon. This guy has been a working actor for about 20 years so to presume that this could be a "breakout" role would indeed be presumptuous. I fell in love with this guy when as the nutty (not nutty eccentric, but nutty certifiable) neighbor who brought humor and life to the relentlessly depressing DeCaprio/Winslet vehicle "Revolutionary Road". He does the same thing in a supporting role for the recent release "Mud", which is a movie I liked, but it needed a kick in the ass from time to time, and Shannon provided it. He also received great critical praise as the lead in Jeff Nichols' "Take Shelter."
A role of an amoral remorseless killer is unfortunately, well worn ground in Hollywood these days. The tendency is to create a character that is more apropos of a video game like Grand Theft Auto. Shannon is much better than that. I don't want to say he gives the character empathy, but he does give him a point of view that has a certain perverted logic to it. Shannon, as Kuklinski is certainly cold, cruel, and calculating but is tender to his family. As Kuklinski's world starts to collapse around him he becomes emotional, desperate, abusive, and panicky. If Shannon doesn't pull this off, this movie fails, miserably.
Shannon is a pretty big guy (about 6'4" I'd judge) and he occasionally affects some stiff movements which kind of put me in mind of Frankenstein, and I don't say that as a knock, I say it as a compliment that Shannon can remind us that Kuklinski is a real scary monster, but that's not the really scary part.
The really scary part is that he is a human being.
Note: Shannon's star may ascend this summer as General Zod in the upcoming Superman reload "Man of Steel".
Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) apparently had an active amateur career as a serial killer before his talents are discovered by mob boss Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta) who employs Kuklinski to kill on his order anytime, anyplace, anywhere. It's steady work.
With this trade, Kuklinski finds financial stability and takes his wife (Wynona Ryder) and kids out to the suburbs to live a life of bourgeoisie splendor, with his family none the wiser about what he really does. (I mean think about it, what could he tell them?)
Director/writer/producer Ariel Vromen's resume is a little thin with only two feature films to his credit neither of which I have seen or even heard of, but he apparently had enough juice to get this thing made, and with a pretty impressive cast as well. His style is grimly straight forward, no editing gimmicks, obtuse camera angles, or slow motion stylized death. Vromen portrays the violence with the illusion of real time. It's quick and it it's brutal, and fair warning leads me to comment the there is a depiction of post mortem dismemberment, nevertheless this movie isn't even in the same league with your average Quentin Tarantino movie in either visuals or body count.
What Vromen has given us is a gangster movie, without the grand ambitions of "The Godfather" or the quirky black humor of the Sopranos. It's about who whacks who, when, where and how. There will be betrayals, double crosses, car chases and all the mobsters will really love their families. So if you like gangster movies, and I do, you'll probably like this one and I did.
Ray Liotta has been a favorite of mine since he lit up the screen in "Something Wild." He has never broken out into the superstardom I thought he was bound for, and he seems to be hopelessly typecast as a gangster, but when faced with the facts, nobody does it better. He's a treat to watch. He has a couple of scenes with fellow evil doing character actor Robert Davi, that together with Shannon form a trio that you would definitely not want to meet in a dark alley. Just ask some of the victims in the movie. The three of them lift the portrayal of menace to an art form.
Wynona Ryder continues on the comeback trail with a solid performance. It's not a big part but she gets a chance to show some chops. Some have commented she looks a little too regal to be a Jersey house wife, but she's not trying to be Snookie, so I think she's alright.
I will point out that James Franco has one scene in this movie, because there are James Franco fans out there that might want to know that, but it is Chris Evans who probably has the best supporting role as the Frostee Ice Cream truck driver who after selling ice cream bars to the kiddies, is probably a more twisted serial killer than Kuklinski. Like Kuklinski, he too is a devoted father.
There is one exceptional thing about this movie, and clearly that is the performance of Michael Shannon. This guy has been a working actor for about 20 years so to presume that this could be a "breakout" role would indeed be presumptuous. I fell in love with this guy when as the nutty (not nutty eccentric, but nutty certifiable) neighbor who brought humor and life to the relentlessly depressing DeCaprio/Winslet vehicle "Revolutionary Road". He does the same thing in a supporting role for the recent release "Mud", which is a movie I liked, but it needed a kick in the ass from time to time, and Shannon provided it. He also received great critical praise as the lead in Jeff Nichols' "Take Shelter."
A role of an amoral remorseless killer is unfortunately, well worn ground in Hollywood these days. The tendency is to create a character that is more apropos of a video game like Grand Theft Auto. Shannon is much better than that. I don't want to say he gives the character empathy, but he does give him a point of view that has a certain perverted logic to it. Shannon, as Kuklinski is certainly cold, cruel, and calculating but is tender to his family. As Kuklinski's world starts to collapse around him he becomes emotional, desperate, abusive, and panicky. If Shannon doesn't pull this off, this movie fails, miserably.
Shannon is a pretty big guy (about 6'4" I'd judge) and he occasionally affects some stiff movements which kind of put me in mind of Frankenstein, and I don't say that as a knock, I say it as a compliment that Shannon can remind us that Kuklinski is a real scary monster, but that's not the really scary part.
The really scary part is that he is a human being.
Note: Shannon's star may ascend this summer as General Zod in the upcoming Superman reload "Man of Steel".