The Iceman (2012) User Reviews

Now this is good acting...

[coastdaze · 8/10 · 31 May 2013]

Michael Shannon should get at least an Academy Award for his performance in this movie. This guy can act and you lose the person and totally see the characters he portrays. Reminds me of Daniel Day Lewis.

Anyway, I had never heard of this Kuklinsky person and it was interesting to see his story. The multiplicity of his lifestyle had to be a killer (no pun intended) to live out. I don't know of many actors who could go from one to the other so effortlessly. From cold-hearted killer to nice person to ragging man to loving husband and father. Michael Shannon can do this well. And those subtle expressions of his! They're great. Icy. Kind. Murderous.

I'm not a fan of Winona Ryder but I liked her portrayal of the Mrs. in this movie. She was believable and really had the suffering wife thing down.

While leaving the movie I ran into a gentleman who had watched the actual documentary of Kuklinsky's life and he said the movie was a good portrayal of the facts. That is a good thing to hear because this kind of story like lends itself to Hollywood sensationalism. And while some of that may have happened, it was a good movie about a bad man. Did I feel sorry for Kuklinsky at the end? Yes...well actually it was pity that I felt.

A Good Movie, But...

[bandito_2000 · 7/10 · 19 May 2013]

The Iceman was an enjoyable movie with very good acting, but ultimately quite unrealistic.

The Iceman, Richard Kuklinski, comes off as a very sympathetic character in the end, whereas in real life he truly was a cold emotionless and sociopathic killer. His family weren't so much cherished and loved as they were possessions that were his and his alone.

Much has been learned about sociopathy by interviewing Kuklinski, but unfortunately none of this was used to shape and portray his real character in the movie. Nonetheless, the movie is worth seeing, but more as entertainment than enlightenment about Kuklinski's life of crime.

A great story ruined!?!? OR did we (or just me) expect too much???

[Julian0922 · 8/10 · 20 May 2013]

I had to drive over 70miles one way to watch this movie and was it worth it? Hard to say if one watched "the iceman tapes" from HBO. To me personally it was disappointing, but I probably expected way too much. So lower your expectations and you will have a nice evening in the cinema.

Shannon is great, superb, I guess nobody could have played him better, but the editing, the storytelling is very abrupt and a bit too edgy. Its not a good fellas, its not even close to it, don't expect even a mob flick. Its an OK movie that had so much more potential. YET it is still worth watching since you don't see movies like that nowadays very often.

The potential of the story would have been an 11, this movie is a 7 with an extra point for Shannons performance. And in relevance I should mention that I would give broken city a 3.5, gangster squad a 4.5, so I guess people who watch this movie with not so high expectations will love it!

PS. No "the iceman" did NOT got his nick because he was so cold, like another reviewer wrote, but because he froze a body for two years. The officials gave him then that name. All this is well known through the "iceman tapes".

Read the book - 'The Iceman' is a woefully underdeveloped disappointment

[kinoreview · 11 June 2013]

Having read Philip Carlo's biography of Richard Kuklinski 'The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer', I can say that Ariel Vromen's big screen adaptation 'The Iceman' is a big disappointment. While the author had a habit of repeating himself and some of Richard's recollections seemed rather dubious in places, Carlo's lengthy book was an engrossing read, I enjoyed it very much.

The problem with the film is that it's awfully constructed; it's all so terribly rushed. It fails to develop both the narrative and subsequently the character of Richard Kuklinski, glossing over almost everything that made the book such an interesting read. I appreciate that cramming one's life story into a screenplay can be a difficult task, however there are major flaws in the script that could have easily been avoided - the screenplay should've been scrapped and completely rewritten.

His unspeakably awful childhood, for instance, is covered with an utterly perfunctory flashback scene that lasts for all of about 15 seconds. This is a fatal mistake, because it was his harrowing formative years that shaped Richard.

Stanley Kuklinski, his deeply cruel father, conditioned his son with the daily violence he inflicted upon his whole family. After Stanley dealt Richard's brother Florian a particularly malicious beating, he died from his injuries; the police were told that he fell down a flight of stairs. Richard's mother was also a callous, unpleasant person; despite her zealous religious values she had no qualms about battering her children with a broom handle. Even when Richard sought solitude in the placidity of his local church as an altar boy, nuns would punish him by splitting the skin on his knuckles with the edge of a metal ruler. All of the relentless anguish was compounded by his family's total destitution.

When 13-year-old Richard also became the victims of local bullies, it all became too much for him - he beat one of them to death with a pole and discarded his body with brutal efficiency. Kuklinski recalled that it was at this moment that he discovered 'it was better to give than receive'. The passages of Carlo's book that cover his youth make for appalling reading; unfortunately none of this power is to be found in Ariel Vromen's rather boring adaptation.

Lacking also are the details of Kuklinski's career. The book recalls Kuklinski's methods of murder, the way he stalked his prey and his utter indifference towards his victims' suffering. Very little of this was explored in the film, we get little more than a brief montage of random people being blown away - it's all so damn rushed and disorganised. Considering what a desperately violent individual Kuklinski was, 'The Iceman' is a rather neutered production. It has none of the visceral qualities that shock you like in 'The Godfather' and 'Goodfellas', mob films that draw you into their brutal world where death is merely 'business'.

Not only is the narrative woefully underdeveloped but it's also sheer fiction in many instances. Despite having great dramatic material to work with, Ariel Vromen and Morgan Land decided that their own version of events were better. Even the more faithful scenes have been tweaked and messed about with for no discernible reason. For example, Roy DeMeo didn't introduce Kuklinski to contract killing, he had already had a career with the DeCavalcante New Jersey crime family and had killed scores of people both professionally and privately. It also forgets to depict the savage beatings Richard used to give his wife Barbara and the pernicious effect it had on the family dynamic.

As you have probably heard, Michael Shannon is the highlight of the film. Much like the real man, he has a steely reserve and an explosive temper; he also resembles him in both appearance and speech. However, despite his best efforts, Shannon is completely let down by the script. While Shannon is indeed cold and calculated, the film fails to truly capture Kuklinski's aura of menace and particularly his notoriety in Mafiadom.

While the performances are fine, 'The Iceman' is quite frankly ruined by total underdevelopment. If I had entered the film with no knowledge of the man, I would have found it a boring, mediocre mob film. But knowing the depth and drama of this tragic figure means that 'The Iceman' is a complete misfire that deserves much more, ideally a remake. The only thing that it successfully achieved was the credibility of its period styling.

Make Room for Daddy

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 24 May 2013]

Greetings again from the darkness. Dramatizations are at their best when actual footage of the subject or event doesn't exist. They can be an effective way to highlight a particularly interesting story or person with details we might not otherwise access. Richard Kuklinski's story is fascinating and frightening. He is known as the mob's most prolific hit-man/contract killer. Writer/director Arial Vromen has adapted Anthony Bruno's novel for the screen, and wisely cast Michael Shannon in the lead. It makes a nice companion piece to the chilling 1992 documentary The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer.

The movie is dominated by the hulking presence of Shannon as Richard Kuklinski. Shannon is no match for the physical size of Kuklinski, but his movements and the camera angles capture the powerful and imposing monster that he was. If you are unfamiliar with Kuklinski's story, he killed somewhere between 100-250 people. His missions were carried forth in cold-blooded, heartless and widely disparate manners. Additionally, he often dismembered his victims and froze bodies and parts to prevent the actual time of death from being established. He was good at his job, but hardly a good guy. But wait! Not so fast ...

Kuklinski was also a husband a father of two daughters who made up what appeared to be a lovely, normal family in suburban New Jersey. This guy had an internal switch he flipped from the street to the dining room table. When he was captured, his wife and daughter claimed they had no clue what he did for a living (he had told them he was in Finance). Sure, they admitted to his having a wild temper and even threatening his wife a few times, but they never once considered that he was a cold-blooded killer by day and neighborly barbecue dad on weekends.

Winona Ryder plays Deborah, Kuklinski's wife. Before you roll your eyes, you should know that Ryder is exceptional in the role. Her tease in Black Swan gave us hope she had returned to form, but this turn displays the talent we always knew was there. The always dependable and creepy Ray Liotta is perfectly cast as Roy Demeo, the mobster for whom Kuklinski worked. The scenes with Shannon and Liotta together are bone-chillingly frightening. Chris Evans (light years from Captain America) plays fellow hit-man Robert Prongay aka Mr Freezy. Kuklinski credits Prongay with valuable insight into poison and disposal of bodies. It's heart-warming to see that even contract killers have support groups. Other support work comes courtesy of David Schwimmer as Josh (Demeo's right hand man), Robert Davi (as Leonard Marks. Demeo's link to the family head), James Franco (as one of the hits), and Stephen Dorff as Kuklinski's incarcerated brother Joey.

Childhood flashbacks give us the table-setting necessary to understand the balance of nature v nurture in the Kuklinski household. Still, no matter how much abuse or misery one has a child, it's difficult to comprehend the stoic evil that possessed Kuklinski. And to be clear, Michael Shannon's performance is his best yet ... and that is saying a great deal. He has become one of the most interesting actors - one who can take the lead as he does here and in Take Shelter, or as a scene-stealing supporter in Revolutionary Road, Mud and the upcoming Man of Steel (as General Zod). He's not a flashy actor, just an extremely talented one.

Vromen captures the gritty feel of the nearly three decades of "family" life in a manner that reminds of Kill the Irishmen ... the Ray Stevenson take on Danny Greene. The atmosphere and inner turmoil are similar, but there is no comparison the Kuklinski evil. Should you doubt this, I would highly recommend the documentary previously mentioned. Watching the actual dead eyes of the real Richard Kuklinski as he talks about his life is beyond horrifying.

The Impressive True Story of a Family Man and Notorious Cold Blood Killer

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 24 January 2016]

In 1964, Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) dates Deborah Pellicotti (Winona Ryder) and kills a man that made an offensive comment about her during a game of pool. The violent Kuklinski works dubbing porn films but he tells to Deborah that he dubs Disney cartoons. Soon they get married and have two daughters. When his boss Roy Demeo (Ray Liotta) closes the laboratory where Kuklinski works, he is invited to work as contract hit man after a test killing a homeless man. Along the years he works for Roy but he falls in disgrace when he let a teenager hooker that witnessed a killing freely go since he does not kill children. Kuklinski begins to work independently as a free-lancer irritating Roy that threatens his family and him. In 1986, Kuklinski is arrested by the police after committing more than one hundred murders.

"The Iceman" is a film with the impressive true story of a family man and notorious cold blood killer. It is impressive how a man could be a good father and husband and also a contract killer and hide this secret from his family for twenty-two years. The great cast is another plus in this great film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Homem de Gelo" ("The Iceman")

Difficult to emotionally invest in but wickedly entertaining.

[Sergeant_Tibbs · 7/10 · 14 August 2013]

With 2011's Take Shelter, Michael Shannon is proving to be a fascinating leading man. Just through his presence, he can convey that unstable line between sanity and insanity and bad and good. You can just tell his inner conflict is going to explode at boiling point. It's unfortunate that while Shannon certainly transforms into the 'iceman,' The Iceman's script doesn't call for much of his range. Instead, it's a moody gangster film that revels in the moments where it can step just beyond the clichés while still pressing all the standard buttons. It's interesting in these kinds of scenes where a mob boss forces an associate to give to a homeless person or Shannon lets James Franco's cameo pray to God just to see what happens. It's a well-acted film, particularly Winona Ryder standing out in the supporting cast and it's very slickly made. But the fundamental problem with the film is its rhythm. The editing is constantly hectic even at the smallest things. There's no natural fluctuations that give emotional moments gravitas or action moments excitement. It does end up fatiguing and it lessens the sense of journey and change. Nevertheless, it's still a wickedly entertaining thrill ride to the end, just blunt at its edges.

7/10

Decent gangster flick, minus the charm and depth of Goodfellas

[AmericanFilmTheory · 7/10 · 13 September 2012]

Iceman Ariel Vromen's The Iceman might succeed too well in depicting its subject, mob hit-man Richard Kuklinski. I saw this film recently at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was lucky enough to hear Vromen's Q&A afterwards. This is a solid gangster movie if you're an aficionado of the genre, but because it doesn't probe very far beneath the surface of this true story, it fails to reach the status of a great film. In fact, I think much of the audience left the theatre with the impression that this was mostly a meditation on mental illness.

Kuklinski, Vromen told the audience, was a sociopath. As such, he had no conscience, and was able to kill at least 100 people without worrying too much about it. He also had no fear – hence the nickname 'iceman.' Michael Shannon, who plays Kuklinski, does such a good job of keeping his face clenched like a fist that we can't really empathize with him. The heart of the movie is supposed to be the dichotomy between the icy hit-man who never gets rattled and has no remorse, and the family man who only wants to take care of his family. Vromen told us that this is something we can probably all identify with – the hardnosed lawyer or business man who wrecks peoples' careers and fortunes by weekday, and the loving husband and father by weekend, or some variation on this theme. Vromen's somewhat incongruous examples from his own life were playing backgammon one minute on an Israeli air force base, and flying into Lebanon the next to witness all the horrors of war – and going to law school by day and being a DJ at raves by night. But Kuklinski seems so brutal, and so filled with rage that we never really believe that he cares about his family all that much. In fact there just isn't that much time devoted to scenes of Kuklinski with his family, and so this central theme never really gets off the ground.

Vromen seemed to want to portray Kuklinski as something more than a sociopath, though, through certain scenes I won't discuss here, and during the Q&A said that in fact, based on the outtakes he'd seen from the HBO documentary, Kuklinskli could be quite charming. Between takes, Vromen said, the real Kuklinski told the story of dropping his daughter off at Catholic school and parking on one of the sisters' spots. She told him not to do this, and he whispered that God had told him to do this. Vromen wondered why HBO hadn't included this in the documentary, which made me wonder why he didn't include it in his own film. Perhaps Kuklinski was really charming, but this just doesn't come through in the film, but would have made it far more interesting. In any case, although I'm not a psychiatrist, it seems to me that it's common for sociopaths to be charming in any case, so this doesn't make the character much more complex. Tony Soprano, if we can compare fictional characters with real ones, was a charming sociopath, but because he somehow charmed us, and his psychiatrist, he was more compelling.

Another underdeveloped theme in the movie is that of chance and religion. Early on Kuklinski tells his future wife (Winona Ryder, who does a great job here) that he doesn't believe in chance. But he only becomes a contract killer when Ray Liotta's character, minor mob-boss Roy Demeo, sees how coolly Kuklinski reacts when attacked by another gangster. Roy closes down Kuklinski's porn editing studio and gives him a choice between unemployment and becoming a killer. Kuklinski thus seems to some extent to have been forced into the job. He was 'just trying to take care of his family.' This is pretty thin, though, and I think we have to see him as fully responsible for his actions. As a side note, when Vromen was asked by an audience member where the moral center of the film was, he hemmed and hawed a bit and told us that the moral of the story was that we should treat each other better. In other words, he either didn't understand the question (despite his having attended law school) or hadn't given much thought to what should have been a central theme of the film. There are some hints (which again, I won't discuss) that Kuklinski thinks that God is dead and so everything is permitted, but again, this is never really developed, and so is not very thought-provoking.

As I said at the beginning, this is, despite everything, a good movie to watch if you've seen Goodfellas too many times to enjoy it anymore, but want something similar. The Iceman, though, really does feel derivative (not only in casting Liotta) of Goodfellas, but without its charm.

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Nice, classic-feeling gangster movie

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 20 April 2015]

THE ICEMAN is based on the supposed true story of a Mafia hit-man who killed hundreds of people during a period ranging from the 1960s to the 1980s. It's deliberately styled to reflect the 'classic' gangster films of yesteryear, particularly Scorsese's GOODFELLAS, taking place in the same era and even with some of the same cast members (Ray Liotta, here taking the sort of role Robert De Niro would have played back in the day).

The protagonist is played by the excellent Michael Shannon, of TV's BOARDWALK EMPIRE, and he helps to make this a grounded, realistic production. I admit I'm biased: I can't get enough of this guy, I love the kooky characters he plays and this is another addition to that fold. There are some great supporting actors in the film too, including an unrecognisable Chris Evans as a psycho (the best I've seen from him) and Robert Davi as another old-time gangster. I spent ages trying to place one character only to realise it was David Schwimmer, a far cry from FRIENDS.

The storyline is quite predictable but there's plenty of violence and outrageous situations to keep things bubbling along, and there seems to be little "fat" on the narrative to slow things down. Winona Ryder gets short shrift as Shannon's wife, but then the focus is on executions and the like so family life doesn't count for much. THE ICEMAN is a dark gangster outing and a film I enjoyed greatly.

True story superbly told

[mjsreg · 8/10 · 17 February 2018]

Although this film has been out for a few years, I have only just seen it - and it is impressive.

Michael Shannon's portrail of real-life hit man Richard Kuklinski is absolutely superb. You really feel drawn into his world at various stages of his 'career', including the conflicts between his chosen profession while trying to maintain some kind of normal family life.

There are plenty of moments in this film that will take you by surprise on your journey with the character.

This film is well worth setting aside time to watch so you become fully engrossed in the story.

Hard to imagine killing 100 people

[muleen · 6/10 · 30 March 2018]

Michael Shannon is tremendous in this role, he portrays this dark, cold, indifferent man, but still capable of love. The movie is slow - with dialogue that is hard to follow at times. I love a true story, though this one is tough considering how many this man killed. I like that they focus on the man, not just death and murder.

Straight Up Gangster Movie

[mickeysrq · 8/10 · 27 May 2013]

The Iceman a biopic based on New Jersey hit-man Richard Kuklinski who managed to murder at least 100 and possibly up to 250 victims in a span of almost 40 years.

Michael Shannon giving a strong performance as the hit-man with the calculating and creepy demeanor of a psychopathic killer with no conscience who can still flip the switch back to his life in the suburbs with wife and kids. Yet a shade of subtlety and pathos in his portrayal of Kuklinski that we can actually identify and take some interest in his struggles. With the exception of Winona Ryder who fits seamlessly as naive suburban housewife (and the 2 daughters) very unlikely to feel sympathy for the victims with the exception of one senseless killing. Mostly wiseguys, mostly scumbags. We're not all that mad at Kuklinski for the nasty stuff he's doing.

Ray Liotta a can't miss as a minor mob boss, all the acting first rate and the characters real. But the Iceman story is told without ice and without chasers, a gangster flick without sentiments real or phony thrown in. Viewers hoping to draw insights or conclusions from all the dead bodies might end up disappointed. The 'Iceman' moniker from his practice of freezing bodies to confuse the time of death.

My biggest question for Kuklinski would be, how do you get away with so many murders, so many different methods, places, people over a span of almost 40 years? In the true crime shows the perp makes one little slip in his only perfect crime and ends up in the slam.

The movie is what it is because I don't think there's all that much complex or new in a Kuklinski to learn. Abused growing up, turns to sociopathic super bully behavior as an adult to get what he wants and to survive. No genius but smart enough to know when to turn it down out in the suburbs. Kuklinski was an usher at mass every Sunday. They should have included that in the movie.

A chilling portrayal; Michael Shannon is outstanding

[JohnRayPeterson · 7/10 · 9 September 2013]

If you want to see a movie about the life of a real hit man, a successful one, that is up to the point when he gets arrested, then this is a good one to see. There are no flamboyant characters in this one, no funny lines and not much of what we've come to expect from gangster movies; that is not what Richard Kuklinski was, so why muck it up with that. Writer/Director/Producer Ariel Vromen had a fair budget to work with ($10MM) but he did not splurge on anything fancy. He picked a terrific cast in Michael Shannon, Ray Liotta, Robert Davi, John Ventimiglia, James Franco and Winona Ryder; yes, Ryder did a terrific job in her role, she's back in true form.

Kuklinski had a childhood and upbringing that predisposed him to a violent life and the movie has just enough short scenes to convey that, if anybody pays attention. The mystery and perplexing aspect of Kuklinski's life was that he had one, outside of his assassinations' business. How he cared for and the extent to which he'd go to provide the best for his family was in sharp contrast to his cold calculating behavior as a killer. Vromen did a splendid job bringing this out with his movie.

Picking Michael Shannon to play, Kuklinski was the most important decision and one that was well done as Shannon does an excellent job. If you saw his performances in the past few years you should have noticed him, my favorite after this movie of course was the role he played in Premium Rush.

You also can't go wrong with Ray Liotta, Robert Davi and John Ventimiglia for gangster characters. James Franco had a short but very effective role in the movie and allows us to see a cold cold Kuklinski at work; about that, you'll probably go 'Ahh, I see!' when you watch the movie. This movie is one I liked a lot and if you feel the same way, you may want to check out 'Kill the Irishman'.

A massive, formulaic disappointment, with a towering performance from Michael Shannon

[tomgillespie2002 · 4/10 · 24 August 2013]

Having developed a morbid fascination with serial killers over the past few years, I was delighted to hear that Richard Kuklinski, one of the most prolific and emotionless mass murderers in history, was to be given the cinematic treatment. Not only was his story ripe for a juicy adaptation, but Michael Shannon, the most consistently mesmerising actor working in film today, was cast as the titular Iceman. Sadly, inexperienced director Ariel Vromen, who up to this point had only made two films I've never heard of, has delivered a by-the-numbers biopic; one that follows familiar genre conventions and whitewashes Kuklinski's story completely in favour of a formula that a mainstream audience can comfortably follow.

After being impressed by his towering frame and generally intimidating nature, mob boss Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta), who is in the employ of the Gambino crime family, takes the young Richard Kuklinski under his wing. To get a feel for him, DeMeo tells Kuklinski to kill at tramp in broad daylight, to which Kuklinski coldly obeys . Soon enough, Kuklinski is carrying out mob hits for DeMeo, while telling his clueless wife Deborah (Winona Ryder) that he is in finance. He meets fellow contract killer Robert 'Mr. Freezy' Prongay (Chris Evans), who teaches Kuklinski the benefits of using cyanide to carry out the murders, and then freezing the bodies to rule out a time of death. But with DeMeo coming under pressure from his boss Leonard Marks (Robert Davi) for a drug deal gone wrong, Kuklinki finds himself and his family under threat.

What might have been a fascinating insight into the inner workings of a sociopath, The Iceman is nothing more than your standard straight-to-DVD mobster movie. Completely ignoring Kuklinski's natural instinct for murder (he was a serial killer long before the mob approached him) and his reputation as a merciless and cruel man, beating and killing men for the slightest of reasons, Vromen even adds a family angle that is completely untrue. To give the lead character a bit of recognisable humanity, here he is portrayed as a loving family man, dedicated to his wife and kids as the mob close around him. In fact, in real life Kuklinski was an aggressive wife-beater; a tyrannical king of the household who regularly committed acts of physical and mental abuse on his family.

Artistic license is a right that every film-maker has when conducting a biopic, but when there's a complex and fascinating story to tell, however dubious some of Kuklinski's claims are (he claims to be responsible for the murder of Jimmy Hoffa), then why make such drastic changes if all you're doing is making your subject the same character seen a thousand times before? Shannon deserves better than that, and his unnerving performance is one of the few saving graces here, but his character is reduced to nothing more than a standard mobster, seduced by the lifestyle and cutting himself off from regular life. He was a cruel, savage monster, who disposed of some of his victims by having them eaten alive by rats (or so he claims), or in one incident, he allowed his victim time to pray to God to see if he would answer his prayers, before killing him (this scene is played out in the film with James Franco as the victim).

Plot strands veer off path and are offered no resolution, making them completely redundant. Some are intriguing, such as Stephen Dorff's appearance as Kuklinski's imprisoned paedophile brother, who hints at Kuklinski's dark childhood and abuse. Others are not, such as DeMeo's right-hand man Josh Rosenthal (David Schwimmer) who is given more screen time than necessary, only for the story to fizzle out into absolutely nothing, as does DeMeo himself. Given a longer running time, a more experienced director, and ultimately more commitment to the source material (various books and recordings exist of Kukinski, the most popular being Philip Carlo's book The Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Contratc Killer and the TV movie The Iceman Tapes), this could have been highly engrossing cinema, instead it's a crushing disappointment, saved only by Shannon's imposing performance.

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The iceman

[cinematic_aficionado · 23 June 2013]

A life of crime. Are some people genetically predisposed to crime or is it all about choices?

In this hard hitting drama, we follow the rise and fall of Richard Kuklinski played utterly convincingly by Michael Shannon. The man who terrorised many, yet he was a faithful and devoted dad and husband where the constant struggle is shown in keeping the balance between a life of crime and family harmony.

One scene I find particularly mesmerising is when he visits his brother in prison and as he is about to leaves his brother shouts that since are both born criminals they shall both end up in jail.

Kudos to the makers for conveying tension and emotion in the correct dose. My only remark would be that it kind of lost its way between being a crime drama and autobiography, however whilst it successfully is a bit of both, I sort of craved it picked a genre and dig a little deeper.

Fair movie, but doesn't do justice to the reality.

[csharpe357 · 6/10 · 12 August 2013]

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.

Pretty unwilling to depart from mob movie formula, but well done enough to impress

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 7/10 · 18 June 2013]

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) lived a double life, to his wife Deborah (Winona Ryder) and their children a devoted, if emotionally distant, husband and father, but behind the scenes a ruthless, efficient killer for the mob, working for hard nut gangster Roy Demeo (Ray Liotta.) But when he proves unreliable, he pulls off hits with fellow mob goon Mr. Freezy (Chris Evans) which send his life spiraling down.

Have a browse around any good high street book store (the ones that are left standing as the recession wages on), and you will invariably find a section full of lavish, lurid true life accounts of those who were involved with/worked for the mob, peddling their stories, spilling the beans on the real goings on behind the scenes of this sub cultural, brutal world. As unsavory as this life is, there are obviously many who harbour a committed interest in knowing all about it, hoping the stylized lifestyle Martin Scorsese has shown in his films over the years is true. The Iceman, aside from being another such account, is also a film from the 'fact is stranger than fiction' staple, where real life comes off as even more unbelievable than something that could be made up in a film. But the real life Kuklinski did indeed fool his family, and even some around him, that he lived a far meeker existence than he really did.

But yet, in the lead role, Shannon manages to inject this unbelievable story with a hint of the realism that really was, portraying a man who seemed perfectly capable of detaching his two identities, switching from a moody but loving family man to ice cold killer away from them, while we witness his meek smokescreen start to disintegrate in scenes later in the film, as the pressure gets too much and the brutal personality that goes with his job starts to seep through to his family. All the support cast also play their parts well, including Ryder as his strong willed but emotionally fragile wife and Liotta, as the mean hearted mob boss who employs him, a nasty piece of work who gets him to prove how ruthless he is by murdering a poor, pathetic homeless man in cold blood, without mentioning support from the likes of David Schwimmer and Robert Davi, all taking a risk with a young director who's probably just made his most high profile feature film.

Strong performances aside, it never manages to stand out significantly from any other mob type film, and loses it's narrative flow slightly when The Iceman parts company from Liotta's character, before ending suddenly with no clear hint of his impending downfall. Still, if this isn't Ariel Vromen's instant classic, it certainly feels like a stepping stone to something like it. ***

Contemporary Made Crime Cinema At Its Finest

[Pycal · 7/10 · 28 May 2013]

THE ICEMAN was on my movie watch-list since I first heard of it. A true-crime film about an infamous hit-man spanning from the 1960s-1980s starring a contemporary actor I don't actually hate (Michael Shannon) in the titular role. Now I admittedly had low expectations for this film considering neigh every recent limited-release movie I've went to see has turned out to be a disappointment. Even contemporary films from great 70s/80s genre directors like Friedkin and Cronenberg (heck, even Don Coscarelli to a degree) turned out to be more on the artsy/fartsy side and just seemed to do anything but leave me cold by their weirdness, non-endings or pretentiousness. THE ICEMAN is a movie (while somewhat of a clichéd depiction of the eras it is set) feels closest to a legit 70s/80s crime movie than most new films I've seen recently that seemingly try to achieve so (except for maybe Walter Hill's BULLET TO THE HEAD, but that's more on the action side of things). Great performance by Michael Shannon (the guy has charisma even when playing a brutal killer who "doesn't give a sh!t") and some great familiar "crime" faces like Ray Liotta and Robert Davi. Appearances by David Schwimmer (at parts looking like poliziotteschi hench Riccardo Petrazzi and then Jesus from THE BIG LEWBOWSKI) and a sleazy James Franco are worth noting...I guess. The film has good cinematography (none of this shaky cam and MTV style crap), minimal (and when noticeable) appropriate uses of CGI, and plenty of good practical effects like the hard-hitting squibs and stunt driving. These elements (and Robert Davi's worthy of framing weathered face) were enough to gain my tough, gritty 70s crime film fan seal of approval. We really need more serious, medium sized (both in scope and budget) films about real-life like this out there these days.

Great Michael Shannon but mob life rather bland

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 24 July 2014]

Based on a true story, it's 1964 New Jersey. Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) works in a lab processing porn. He's the strong silent type dating Deborah Pellicotti (Winona Ryder). He's also a killer. A year later, he's married starting a new family. Mob boss Roy Demeo (Ray Liotta) sees something in Kuklinski and makes him his hit man. Richard continues to lie to his family as he becomes an expert mob killer. Events force him to work independently with another killer Mr. Freezy (Chris Evans). Demeo finds out and threatens everything. The media starts calling the killer 'The Iceman'.

Michael Shannon is an expert at playing the quiet intense guy who explodes. That's what he does here. He's great at what he does. The story of his mob life is surprisingly boring. It lacks tension. The main tension comes from his life with his wife. In the end, this only has Shannon and not much else.

"Life can be very random sometimes."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 14 January 2020]

Robert Davi makes that astute observation in my summary line as his character Leo Merks, and what makes it so savvy is that Leo got a couple of bullets from Iceman Ritchie Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) immediately after. He found out what random meant first hand. I liked Shannon in his portrayal here, giving the 'iceman' connotation a pretty good workout. Loving husband and father on the outside, a stone cold killer on the inside which by the time the film is over, we learn that he was credited with the murders of over a hundred people. The story demonstrates just how precarious it can be working in a mob environment, as loyalties have a way of bouncing from one crime boss to another, and with a good ear to the ground like Roy Demeo (Ray Liotta) had, it's not long before the word on the street manages to level the playing field among rivals. I was kind of surprised to read a couple reviews on this board in which the writers wound up sympathizing with the fate of Kuklinski at the end of the story. You can't blame it on the screenplay, as the guy's stock in trade was murder and he committed more than his share. Pity might be more like it, but ultimately, the Iceman made his own bed and had to pay the price when his criminal life caught up with him.

Michael Shannon...The New Face of Evil for Decades To Come

[Ed-Shullivan · 8/10 · 3 September 2013]

Wow!! What a great feature film for Michael Shannon to display his range of acting and depth of character portrayal as the real New Jersey contract (serial?) killer, Richard Kuklinski. Michael Shannon has played dark brooding characters before such as in his roles in movies like My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, as Brad McCullum, The Man of Steel as General Zod, and in Take Shelter as the father Curtis LaForche, of a family who believe his fixation on building an underground shelter is too extreme. He also plays a dark brooding character in Boardwalk Empire, whose role evolves from a former Prohibition Agent on the run after murdering his partner, to the muscle for a bootlegger. In my watching Michael Shannon evolve as an actor over the past 20 years of film making, I believe he has found his true calling in the mobster/crime genre.

The supporting cast is very strong with Winona Ryder playing the feeble Deborah Kuklinski, the wife of Richard Kuklinski. In actual life Richard and Deborah Kuklinski had two daughters and one son. The movie however depicts the Kuklinski's as only raising two daughters. The reason for this deviation in art imitating life may be to reveal a more softer, caring husband and father Richard Kuklinski, doting over the three women in his life. Which brings me to what I believe the director Ariel Vromen was looking to achieve with this film. Ariel Vromen was on record in stating that after he watched the real Richard Kuklinski HBO documentary The Iceman Tapes: Conversations With A Killer that he "was so amazed by the story that he actually liked Richard Kuklinski and had empathy and sympathy for him."

Some movie goers will not appreciate the lack of gratuitous violence that would have been expected from the real contract killer Richard Kuklinski. So if you are expecting to see a very violent and physical Richard Kuklinski character, the director Ariel Vromen has purposely excluded the violent bloody side of the actual vicious killings of Richard Kuklinski displayed in other movies like Goodfellas, or the Godfather.

Another strong performance was displayed by Ray Liotta who portrays Roy DeMeo a loan shark and drug pusher who is trying to control Richard Kulkinski as his own killing machine. Robert Davi as the middle man between the real mob bosses and Roy DeMeo who wanted more recognition from the mob was well done. Davi, only has a few scenes in the movie, but each of his scenes is significant for the historical references that unfold. Totally away from the humorous character David Schwimmer is known for in the TV series Friends, as Ross Geller, Schwimmer does an excellent job playing Josh Rosenthal, a henchman for mobster Roy DeMeo.

Chris Evans portrayal of Robert Pronger, aka Mr. Freezy, was eerily real to character and a very creative role. He plays a lone wolf who mentors the Iceman and exposes Richard Kuklinski on more practical ways to murder people. Again, the gratuitous violence is very soft core of these two contract killers who are displayed cutting up body parts and loading them in to walk in freezers. The movie is less than two hours long and to capture approximately 30 years of Kuklinski's rampage is difficult to say the least, so I appreciated that the director chose to focus on Richard Kuklinski's multiple characters as the devoted family man. cold blooded killer and lack of emotion or fear, due to flashbacks of his own early childhood abuse at the hands of his father. Stephen Dorff plays Richard's brother Joseph, who true to life was serving a life time term for raping then throwing a teenage girl to her death off the top of a roof. Richard and his brother Joseph were not close in real life and when they were both imprisoned in the same cell block they merely shrugged shoulders towards each other in passing. Why? The real Richard Kuklinski felt his only true family was his children and wife, as portrayed by director Arial Vromer's The Iceman.

This is a must see for any enthusiasts of the real criminal world true stories. It boasts a seasoned group of veteran actors who shared the screen with star Michael Shannon. It is two hours of excellent historical reference minus much of the bloodshed and violence one can see in any one of thousands of B movies if this is what you really want to see.

The Iceman

[dumfriesdon · 6/10 · 11 June 2013]

Having read the book several times I was only too eager to watch this movie.

The acting in this movie was first class and it needed to be because it really is the best thing about this film.

This movie could have been a classic but sadly its a huge opportunity lost.

At least 100 murders maybe 250 but how many do we see? not many. He used many different methods to do his killings - again we don't see many. No real background on his nurture either which would have been nice to see maybe what made him who he became.

The story was supposed to be about Richard Kuklinsky but we get too quickly whisked through the generations without actually getting to know him.

There were many highlights in the book which are not even mentioned. For being known as the Iceman its a shame that there was no real devotion to seeing any frozen bodies.

And finally the police were never mentioned in the film until the last minute. Would have been good to see the other side coming together.

Poor translation from the book.

BUT worthwhile seeing

THE ICEMAN, Incredible Biography and Crime Movie

[seethevaloni · 8/10 · 4 September 2013]

Such a good acting and storyline, personally this is ma favorite crime movie of 2012-13. I can't understand why this movie has a very low rating here at IMDb. I think it's the most underrated movie of 2013, anyways people know their choices. Some people who have read the book, says that the book is better than the movie but I haven't red the book so, I don't know about the book, but the movie is definitely worth watching. Chris Evans was very very good at this movie, I didn't expect him to do such a good acting at a movie like this. The main role Michael Shannon was good to. What I loved about this movie is the music too. But overall was complete awesome.

The Vidiot Reviews

[capone666 · 7/10 · 5 September 2013]

The Iceman

The upside to a father who's a hired gun is he won't kill you for crashing his car unless someone pays him to.

Unfortunately, the contract killer in this crime-drama might do it pro bono.

Moonlighting as a loan shark enforcer, Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) catches the eye of Gambino affiliated gangster Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta).

In his private life, Richard weds Deborah (Winona Ryder) and they have two daughters. All are unaware of his true profession.

To make ends meet, Richard must seek contracts outside of the crime syndicate. Partnering with an ice-cream truck driver (Chris Evans), he branches out.

However, his side-job doesn't go over well with the family or the police.

Based on the true story, The Iceman is an astonishing account of mob violence punctuated by Shannon's cold-blooded performance.

Furthermore, no parent will ever stand in front of assassin dad's camcorder during the school play.

Green Light

vidiotreviews.blogspot.com

could have been better.

[busman1929 · 5/10 · 2 June 2013]

This movie let me down in so many ways. I do understand that most of the time the book is better then the movie for obvious reasons. Time restrictions,budget and movie rating system. But to not even come close and Im talking not even in the same ball park is a huge let down.

Spoiler coming.... Biggest error of the movie was that the director failed to show how heartless "The Iceman" really was. Let me explain.

In the book "The Iceman" would sample new weapons on people mostly the homeless walking under the East River Parkway near the Brooklyn bridge. The police most of the time just wrote it off as the homeless killing each other off. One of his more horrendous acts was to drive a victim to the deep woods of Pennsylvania and seek out a cave. He would then tie up his victim with food all over him...He would then video tape the rats chewing the victim alive. Im not getting into every murder he did but, This does sum up the point that the movie somewhat just skims the surface of how ruthless and heartless the "Iceman" really was.

As for the movie as a whole...I rate this as a somewhat average run of the mill crime drama. I left feeling like I just wasted 2 hours.