100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 65: The Iceman

Director: Ariel Vromen

Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Crime

Runtime: 103 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta, David Schwimmer, Stephen Dorff, James Franco, Robert Davi, Danny A. Abeckaser, John Ventimiglia, Ryan O’Nan, McKaly Miller, Megan Sherrill, Hecktor Hank, Zoran Radanovich, Shira Vilensky, Kelly Lind, John P. Fertitta, Erin Cummings

Description: The true story of Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon), the notorious contract killer and family man. When finally arrested in 1986, neither his wife (Winona Ryder) nor daughters have any clue about his real profession.

Review: Hundreds of people lost their lives to relentless hitman Richard Kuklinksi aka The Iceman. In the adaptation of this story director Ariel Vromen choose Michael Shannon to portray Kuklinski. And with also Ray Liotta, Chris Evans, Winona Ryder and a small role from James Franco, this looks like a promising film. It’s the acting that makes this movie interesting, not the plot.

Working for various criminal originations Kuklinski kills almost 250 people (according to himself). This is combined with the confrontations about honor, trust and loyalty within the criminal world. Besides this dark life he is living, Kuklinski has a loving wife and two daughters, who know nothing about his job. This gets the audience in the situation where we see him as a cold blooded killer and as a loving husband and father.

Michael Shannon is a perfect choice for this role. His appearance makes it very believable and he is genuinely scary is a hitman. Like I said before, the acting in this movie is very strong. It’s better than the movie itself. Which doesn’t mean that it’s bad, because it’s a very enjoyable film. But not a movie that you will remember for a long time.

Rating: 3/ 5