For thirty years, mob hit man Richard Kuklinski enjoyed going about his job with annyomity, employing various methods, such as guns, knives, and poison, to keep the police guessing. His nightly dealings were in complete contrast with his public life, where he was a loving husband and father willing to do anything to provide for his family. It's this double life that is at the core of The Iceman, which follows Kuklinski (played perfectly by Micheal Sahnnon) from his early life to his inevitable incarceration.
The major ace up the movie's sleeve is Shannon in the lead role. He is an absolutely fantastic actor, oozing intensity in every role, and making every part he plays uniquely his own. He portrays Kuklinski as a barely restrained sociopath, his true nature bubbling dangerously close to the surface, and his misjudged nobility justifying what he does is a very interesting character trait. Shannon excels in the role, lending every scene he is in a suffocating layer of tension. When Kuklinski is forcibly retired by his bosses, you will actually find yourself willing the character to return to killing people, which seems to be the only way of keeping his brutal nature in check. It is an absolutely fantastic character, and one Shannon was born to play.
That's not to say the rest of the cast phone it in. There is a great cast assembled here, many of them left unrecognisable under an array of 70's facial hair (anybody who says they recognised David Schwimmer when he first appears on screen, I call Shenanigans on them). Winona Ryder has great chemistry with Shannon as Kuklinski's wife Deborah. Their first meeting is actually kind of sweet, and her growing realisation of her husband's true nature is played perfectly. It wouldn't be a gangster movie without Ray Liotta, and he doesn't disappoint as the mob boss who set Kuklinski on his current career path. Like Shannon, there is a lot bubbling beneath the surface of his character, and when he finally lets his full menacing nature come out it leads to one of the films best scenes. Chris Evan's puts in a solid turn as a fellow contract killer plying his trade from an ice cream van, but his role feels generic and bland against Shannon. Despite all the cast's good work, the movie is let down slightly by Ariel Vroman's sometimes slack direction. The tension here is palatable, and that is a credit to Vroman, but the real problem is the script he co-wrote with Morgan Land. Kuklinski's story is a great one, full of tension and intrigue, but it just sort of hangs there. There is no real structure to The Iceman. It just jumps from plot point to plot point (Stephen Dorff as Kuklinski's brother Joey is completely wasted in a sub plot that doesn't go any where), letting the cast do much of the heavy lifting. Which they do admirably, but the story feels forced at times, the ending especially, which just comes out of nowhere.
Despite it's problems with structure, The Iceman is a fanatstic look at the life of a violent sociopath, helped immensely by an exemplary cast giving it their all. Highly recommended!
The major ace up the movie's sleeve is Shannon in the lead role. He is an absolutely fantastic actor, oozing intensity in every role, and making every part he plays uniquely his own. He portrays Kuklinski as a barely restrained sociopath, his true nature bubbling dangerously close to the surface, and his misjudged nobility justifying what he does is a very interesting character trait. Shannon excels in the role, lending every scene he is in a suffocating layer of tension. When Kuklinski is forcibly retired by his bosses, you will actually find yourself willing the character to return to killing people, which seems to be the only way of keeping his brutal nature in check. It is an absolutely fantastic character, and one Shannon was born to play.
That's not to say the rest of the cast phone it in. There is a great cast assembled here, many of them left unrecognisable under an array of 70's facial hair (anybody who says they recognised David Schwimmer when he first appears on screen, I call Shenanigans on them). Winona Ryder has great chemistry with Shannon as Kuklinski's wife Deborah. Their first meeting is actually kind of sweet, and her growing realisation of her husband's true nature is played perfectly. It wouldn't be a gangster movie without Ray Liotta, and he doesn't disappoint as the mob boss who set Kuklinski on his current career path. Like Shannon, there is a lot bubbling beneath the surface of his character, and when he finally lets his full menacing nature come out it leads to one of the films best scenes. Chris Evan's puts in a solid turn as a fellow contract killer plying his trade from an ice cream van, but his role feels generic and bland against Shannon. Despite all the cast's good work, the movie is let down slightly by Ariel Vroman's sometimes slack direction. The tension here is palatable, and that is a credit to Vroman, but the real problem is the script he co-wrote with Morgan Land. Kuklinski's story is a great one, full of tension and intrigue, but it just sort of hangs there. There is no real structure to The Iceman. It just jumps from plot point to plot point (Stephen Dorff as Kuklinski's brother Joey is completely wasted in a sub plot that doesn't go any where), letting the cast do much of the heavy lifting. Which they do admirably, but the story feels forced at times, the ending especially, which just comes out of nowhere.
Despite it's problems with structure, The Iceman is a fanatstic look at the life of a violent sociopath, helped immensely by an exemplary cast giving it their all. Highly recommended!
