Review of The Iceman (2012) by Ed C — 28 Jan 2014

One line summary: Solid movie following the mob assassin Richard Kuklinski.

------------------------.

Richard starts out as a business man who runs afoul of Roy Demeo because of some missing boxes, which translate into missing profits. Richard eventually rectifies his problem by murdering someone for Roy. Assassinations become a big part of his regular work. He chooses not to kill women and children, which becomes his reputation.

Richard has a more or less normal life with Deborah, and raises two daughters with her.

Things unravel a bit when he kills Marty, but lets the teenaged girl he was filming go free. He meets Mr. Freezy at this time. Freezy wants to kill the girl, since she saw his face; Richard prevents him from doing that, at least for a short time. This is a big backfire; Richard becomes unemployable. Eventually he becomes a sub-contractor for Mr. Freezy.

Later Ray gets trouble from his boss, Leonard Marks, for a drug deal gone bad. Richard gets involved with Freezy's contracts with Marks. Roy eventually catches wind of this. Richard is definitely in a tight spot. After Marks stiffs him on a contract, Richard has had enough and does in Marks. This starts the fall of many pending weaknesses.

Can Richard navigate his way out of this alive? Will his family survive the fallout?

------Scores-------.

Cinematography: 8/10 Good on the whole: often dark and atmospheric; other times a little shaky.

Sound: 8/10 Good enough, but not really well used as an asset.

Acting: 8/10 Michael Shannon, Robert Davi, Ray Liotta, and Chris Evans were rather good. David Schwimmer and James Franco I could have done without.

Screenplay: 9/10 Well written; the plot moves right along.