The Iceman Review: Michael Shannon goes crazy...again

Dir. Ariel Vromen

103 Minutes

Rated R

Based on true events, The Iceman stars Michael Shannon as notorious contract killer Richard Kuklinski, who in his time killed over 100 unfortunate dudes.  The funny thing is that he considered himself a family man, even whilst slitting throats and gunning down guys, and his wife (Winona Ryder) and two daughters were completely oblivious to his mob activity before his ultimate arrest.  Shannon's performance is an amazing portrait of a killer, and the supporting cast is just as strong.  Winona Ryder is great in a sort of comeback role for her (originally meant for Maggie Gyllenhaal), and Chris Evans is nearly unrecognizable in what I consider to be the best role of his career so far, playing a guy who makes bodies disappear, fronting as an ice cream truck driver.  Plus there's Ray Liotta and one of the Fratelli Brothers (from The Goonies) playing mob guys.  You can't go wrong there.  The film retreads a lot of ground we've seen before with these types of crime dramas, but the performances were strong enough to make it an entertaining watch.

That being said there was something "off" about the movie though.  The pacing was a little slow and themes that should have been delved into more were just glazed over in the most basic way.  The idea of a "family man" who has this devil inside him is ripe for interesting narrative decisions, but I think the whole "based on a true story" idea may have bogged down the script a little bit.  Some of the mob scenes dragged on a little too long, and maybe it was because I watched the film on not enough sleep, but I found it difficult to keep track of who was working for who.  I'm not quite sure why, but the "dramatic" moments didn't have the weight they should have had most of the time.  The violence in the film can be rough to watch, but again, the same sorts of things we've seen done in past true crime dramas.

Overall, I think this had the potential to be something really special, on the level of The Sopranos or Goodfellas even, but doesn't flesh out the story or characters enough to make the drama that deep.  Still, the performances are strong enough to get by on, and Michael Shannon, as always, knocks it out of the park, solidifying his place as one of the best crazy guys in movies.  I can't wait to see what he does as Zod in Man of Steel (my most anticipated movies this summer), but with his track record I know he'll be amazing.  In a nutshell, The Iceman is a mediocre crime film surrounded by brilliant performances.

Rating: C+


Bonus - Related Internet Video:

Michael Shannon may be creepy in The Iceman, but he has nothing over the real thing.  Here are the infamous "Iceman Tapes" conducted with the actual Richard Kuklinski, where he himself reveals the dirty details of his past life.  Freaky stuff.