The Iceman
Richard Kuklinski is a hard working family man. He is also a contract killer for a mob boss.
Direction
Fun direction from Ariel Vromen who gives some solid techniques, and camera shots. Two examples are Richard’s first ‘murder montage’ and later a car chase sequence where Richard has his entire family in the car.
Cast/Characters
Michael Shannon, who at already an impressive 6’4 is at times framed to appear taller. He plays the cold, apathetic towards those he comes across well – only showing emotion when it comes to his family. He was already used to playing a similar role in Boardwalk Empire.
Winona Ryder does well as Deborah the wife of Richard. I’m far from someone who is able to decipher American accents, but her ‘New York’ accent sounds genuine and authentic.
The late Ray Liotta is a little underused as mafia boss Roy Demeo, who Richard works for. During the film Richard refuses to kill a witness, and ends up as a target for another hitman.
Chris Evans is almost unrecognisable at times as a fellow hit-man who competes at times against Richard , and later joins him when they both are on the ‘outs’ with Liotta’s Roy.
Secondary cast include David Schwimmer, Dave Franco, Stephen Dorff and Robert Davi.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
Some of Kuklinski ‘s more infamous history are not as well written as they should have been. Primarily the title of the film ‘Iceman’ is only very vaguely touched on (freezing his victims to make time of death harder to find). Also, his abusive nature towards wife Deborah is not shown on screen either.
Liotta is not given as much to do as he has been known to do in the past. Despite him being a mafia boss, he feels overshadowed, and belittled by characters around him (Robert Davi’s Leonard Merks for one). Given how batsh!t crazy performances he’s given in the past, he felt a little restricted. He also departs off screen which is disappointing.
With the films narrative beginning in 1964, it jumps at times through the years of 1965, 1975 and 1981 – some of which are shown on screen to help the audience, some not. The time jumps in the second half get a little muddled, and should have been done better.
Overall
Solid thriller/action – with some great performances, especially by the lead Shannon.
Despite some underdeveloped narrative moments, this was still a recommend.
3.5/5
If you’re able to, please “buy me a coffee”