20140128: Drama Review--The Iceman

The Iceman

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2013, rated R, 105 minutes, drama, thriller, crime.
2. IMDB: 6.9/10.0 from 31,668 audience ratings.  Estimated budget, 10 million USD; aspect 1.85
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 67% on the meter; 64% liked it from 21,861 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.8/5.0 from 494,846 audience ratings.
5. Directed by: Ariel Vromen.
6. Starring:  Michael Shannon as Richard Kuklinski, Winona Ryder as Deborah Pellicotti, Chris Evans as Mr. Freezy, Ray Liotta as Roy Demeo, David Schwimmer as Josh Rosenthal, Robert Davi as Leonard Marks, James Franco as Marty Freeman.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Richard starts out as a business man who runs afoul of Roy Demeo because of some missing boxes, which translate into missing profits.  Richard eventually rectifies his problem by murdering someone for Roy.  Assassinations become a big part of his regular work.  He chooses not to kill women and children, which becomes his reputation.


2. Richard has a more or less normal life with Deborah, and raises two daughters with her.


3. Things unravel a bit when he kills Marty, but lets the teenaged girl he was filming go free.  He meets Mr. Freezy at this time.  Freezy wants to kill the girl, since she saw his face; Richard prevents him from doing that, at least for a short time.  This is a big backfire; Richard becomes unemployable.  Eventually he becomes a sub-contractor for Mr. Freezy.


4. Later Ray gets trouble from his boss, Leonard Marks, for a drug deal gone bad.  Richard gets involved with Freezy's contracts with Marks.  Roy eventually catches wind of this.  Richard is definitely in a tight spot.  After Marks stiffs him on a contract, Richard has had enough and does in Marks.  This starts the fall of many pending weaknesses.


5. Can Richard navigate his way out of this alive?  Will his family survive the fallout?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Solid movie following the mob assassin Richard Kuklinski.
2. Four stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 8/10 Good on the whole: often dark and atmospheric; other times a little shaky.


2. Sound: 8/10 Good enough, but not really well used as an asset.


3. Acting: 8/10 Michael Shannon, Robert Davi, Ray Liotta, and Chris Evans were rather good.  David Schwimmer and James Franco I could have done without.


4. Screenplay: 9/10 Well written; the plot moves right along.