As someone who has watched all the Kuklinski documentaries multiple times and listened to the 18 hour audio book biography a couple of times, i consider this a fair movie in its own right but a poor representation of the reality that was Kuklinski's life.
The movie is incorrect on almost every detail apart from the most basic. ie, he had a wife and loved his children.
Shannons performance is good, but it simply doesn't compare to the real deal. Take the ending of the movie for instance. It is a word for word re-enactment of one of the Kuklinski interviews, but watching it is not nearly as compelling as watching Kuklinski himself. I suppose this is to be expected, a copy can never equal the original, but i just feel that this scene is out of place in a 2 hour movie without sufficient backstory to really sympathise with the character.
DeMeo I think was miscast. They really needed an Italian guy - or at least someone who can do a compelling Italian accent, to pull it off. You kind of lose some of the reality that Kuklinski was a mafia hit-man due to this. There is none of the arrogance, brashness, charisma or flamboyancy that Roy DeMeo was known for. None of the mafia bosses in the movie really pull it off.
In all, its an OK movie but the story is twisted and does not represent the facts accurately. The real story is far more memorable.
The movie is incorrect on almost every detail apart from the most basic. ie, he had a wife and loved his children.
Shannons performance is good, but it simply doesn't compare to the real deal. Take the ending of the movie for instance. It is a word for word re-enactment of one of the Kuklinski interviews, but watching it is not nearly as compelling as watching Kuklinski himself. I suppose this is to be expected, a copy can never equal the original, but i just feel that this scene is out of place in a 2 hour movie without sufficient backstory to really sympathise with the character.
DeMeo I think was miscast. They really needed an Italian guy - or at least someone who can do a compelling Italian accent, to pull it off. You kind of lose some of the reality that Kuklinski was a mafia hit-man due to this. There is none of the arrogance, brashness, charisma or flamboyancy that Roy DeMeo was known for. None of the mafia bosses in the movie really pull it off.
In all, its an OK movie but the story is twisted and does not represent the facts accurately. The real story is far more memorable.