Review of The Iceman (2012) by Chris E — 21 May 2013

I've always been interested in New Jersey's notorious serial killer Richard Kuklinski (known as The Iceman). He was a killer for the mafia who practiced brutal methods of murder on his over 200 victims (the film claims over 100, but it was estimated that he killed over 200).

One of those methods was tying up men in caves and allowing rats to eat him alive while he videotaped it. He was known for using cyanide and knives on most of his victims, yet in the film, he is shown using mostly guns (Kuklinski stated in one of his interviews that he didn't like to use guns).

The film also did not show how the cops figured out Kuklinski was freezing the bodies (one of the frozen bodies he left on the side of the road was not thawed out long enough). I felt like the film was only half as brutal as he actually was, as a murderer.

Michael Shannon did a fantastic job of portraying him; while he may not look like him in his younger days, he looks very similar to him in his later interviews and in voice as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Shannon was nominated for an Oscar for his role.

Winona Ryder is also great as his wife, and Chris Evans is great as his partner Robert Pronge. It seems like Ray Liotta is the default mafia leader at this point in his career, and it was actually a little distracting that he played out that stereotype the exact same way, yet again.

I also felt very little for any of the characters, which was a little disappointing. At 105 minutes, I think the film should have been longer as well; there were too many big aspects of Kuklinski's life that weren't covered including his childhood, his introduction to killing, and the various methods of homicide he practiced.

On the good side, the ending was powerful, there was an amazing scene where Kuklinski and Pronge murder a guy in the middle of a dance floor, and of course Michael Shannon himself. Overall, I felt like a lot more could have been done on the writing side, but Shannon was just enough to save the film from completely collapsing.