The Iceman





Directed By: Ariel Vromen

Starring: Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta, James Franco, David Schwimmer, Stephen Dorff, and Erin Cummings

Michael Shannon might just be the most underrated actor of his generation.  Despite a very impressive filmography and a long list of memorable characters on screen, Shannon has never attained mainstream popularity and is still relatively unknown to the movie-going public at large.  It's unfortunate because he's a really prolific actor.  Things may change for him in a few weeks though when he appears in the hotly anticipated Superman reboot Man of Steel as the main villain General Zod.  Until then, we get to enjoy him giving a fierce performance in Ariel Vromen's The Iceman.

Richard Kuklinski (Shannon) has always been a rather cold fish.  He's just never had the right forum to show it.  Working as a film technician in a porn lab, Kuklinski just goes about life taking care of his wife Deborah (Winona Ryder) and their daughters Anabel (McKaley Miller) and Betsy (Megan Sherrill).  When mob boss Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta) closes the porn lab, Kuklinski finds a new job that pays the bills and lets really him be the cold fish he was born to be.  Kuklinski becomes a contract killer for DeMeo and starts leaving a trail of bodies all over the Northeast.  He becomes known in certain circles as "The Iceman".

Kuklinski works exclusively for DeMeo for years.  When he refuses to kill a 17 year-old girl who witnesses him carrying out a job and word gets back to DeMeo through another hitman on the scene known as Mr. Softee (Chris Evans), his relationship with his longtime employer sours. With blowback from the other families and a potential murder investigation looming, DeMeo gives Kuklinski some money and sends him packing.  He tells him to get out of this line of work.  However, Kuklinski wants to buy some real estate in Atlantic City and needs some more cash.  He decides to take a costly risk for himself and his family and partners with Mr. Softee to keep the money flowing.

The Iceman is my kind of movie.  Based on the actual life of contract killer Richard Kuklinski, this mob flick helmed by director Ariel Vromen is one pulse-pounding thriller.  It's slow and brooding at first but builds gradually and becomes a thrill-a-minute film by the end.  It's a well-crafted film from Vromen that explores the menacing world of the mafia.  Additionally, Vromen pulls some impressive performances from his extremely talented cast.  All in all, Vromen delivers one enjoyable thriller.

Vromen does quite bit to help accentuate the mob culture of the 60s and 70s in the most chilling way possible.  Vromen's dark, gritty cinematography clearly sets the stage for one cold affair.  With some strong writing, many of Vromen's characters offer plenty of sharp, biting dialogue, the likes of which only vicious movie mobsters could ever deliver.  Finally, Vromen backs all of this up with brutal yet tasteful violence that includes a whole lot of gunshot victims, stab fatalities, and dismembered cadavers.  The violence is gruesome, but it only furthers the dark, menacing tone of this mobster movie.

We have Michael Shannon at the front and center of Vromen's film as Richard Kuklinski.  Once again, he delivers a powerhouse performance that shows why he is one of the best in the business today.  As our main killer, Shannon gives an icy hot performance that oscillates between two states — cold, calculating menace and fiery, unabated rage.  With his chilling presence on screen, he makes me believe that he is a stone-cold killer who will drop someone, friend or foe, at a moment's notice for any reason whatsoever.  At the same time, he goes to some very dark places and delivers raw fury in a way that few actors can really do.  Shannon's performance is the mark of a man who has really honed his craft.

Shannon has several supporting cast members helping him out as well.  As Kuklinski's boss Roy DeMeo, Ray Liotta once again shows why he was born for mob flicks.  In The Iceman, he is one smooth mobster who will get his hands bloody whenever the situation calls for it.  In this role, Liotta continues to expand his string of solid performances in crime flicks over the last year or so.  Captain America drops the stars and stripes act and comes to the dark side as Kuklinski's rival hitman Mr. Softee.  Chris Evans doesn't emulate Shannon's performance but delivers a cold-blooded killer that's crazy in a more lighthearted way.  As Kuklinski's wife Deborah, Winona Ryder delivers a consistent voice of reason and brings a warm presence to an otherwise cold film. 

The Iceman is one enjoyable mob movie and a damn good history lesson about one of the most brutal murderers of the twentieth century.  This tense thriller really gets it right.  The Iceman gets a 0.03% rating.  Have some wine coolers during this one.