What I'm Watching: The Iceman

Millennium Films

Why I watched it: As you can see from the picture above, it is Michael Shannon, and he looks extremely badass. Not only does The Iceman feature Shannon as real-life contract killer Richard Kuklinski, but it also includes Ray Liotta, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, and a couple very random cameos from James Franco and Stephen Dorff. Overall, it's a great cast and who can resist a mob-related biopic? The plot and trailers promised some cool action and stone-cold killings by Shannon, and even though I'm not a huge fan of biopics, I had no prior knowledge of Kuklinski and the subject matter seemed much more interesting and entertaining than some other biopic on a President or something. So of course I'm interested in this one!

What I thought: As expected, Shannon is good in anything he does. Granted, he's a natural when it comes to scary, cold (no pun intended) characters and keeping that signature frown frozen (another pun!) on his face. Ryder is also good as Shannon's wife, and she even pulls off her Jersey accent quite well too. The other supporting actors are all fine as well. However, as interesting as the premise for the movie and Kuklinski's life sounds, the plot is still fairly void of anything worthwhile. We understand that Kuklinski had a messed up childhood and that he has no problem being violent and cruel if necessary, but beyond that, the reasons for why he so easily takes on the role of contract killer are never fully explained. We hear him say a number of times "Everything I do is for my family" or something along those lines, but that still doesn't give a solid enough reason for why someone would kill over 100 people in their life. ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE! Of course there's the money he was paid for the killings, but still, not anyone can just do that for any amount of money. So The Iceman and it's events are entertaining and well executed enough, but there's a hole at the center that begs the question "why." The absence of an answer for this question forms the basis for my problem with many historical or biopic pieces: sure, a true story like this one is interesting and informative, but there has to be a better reason than just "based on a true story" for me to warrant making a movie out of something.

Should you watch it: Despite its lack of substance, The Iceman is still better than most other movies out on DVD right now. Shannon is always fun to watch, and it is crazy to fathom that killers like that actually existed and I'm sure still do exist. Overall, the killings and such don't provide anything really new as far as style and action, but it's still a generally entertaining time. So, for the sake of Shannon and his stoney-silence, go for it!