True crime cinema always has an air of lurid exploitation. People love to watch the inner workings of the worst humans who ever lived, often at the expense of their victims. When the subject is a serial killer, the focus is usually on how they got away with it, but when the killer is more of a professional, the story changes.
The mafia holds a lot of interest for American audiences. Though their heyday was in the 20s, organized crime has been a fixture of everyday life for generations. The bosses are fun, but the real pop-cultural icons are the men who do the dirty work. Men like Richie Kuklinski.
In 1988, Richard Leonard Kuklinski was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of four people. Kuklinski characterized his life of crime as more substantial and his body count as much higher than four. However, to his wife and kids, he was a normal family man with something of an anger problem. Kuklinski claimed to be a hitman for the mafia, killing between 100 and 200 people over his life of crime. There are a lot of unanswered questions about Kuklinski's criminal enterprise. Many argue that he was never even involved with the mafia. He gave interviews to anyone who would listen, turning his life into something of a legend. Director Ariel Vromen heard the legends, possibly from the three HBO documentaries on the subject or the non-stop press coverage Kuklinski enjoyed from his cell. Michael Shannon takes on the lead role, embodying the version of Kuklinski that may have only existed in his stories.
Shannon's performance belongs in the grand tradition of note-perfect impressions of real people. Shannon seemingly studied the screen presence of Kuklinski in his interviews, because he matches his voice to an impressive degree. Shannon is one of the great explosive scenery-chewing character actors of our time, but he turns in a subdued performance for most of this film. His character is a killer motivated entirely by his desire to maintain his normal life. He's a regular suburban father and husband most of the time, but he's also an inveterate liar and a man accustomed to violence. He's a killer long before he gets involved with the mafia, they just give him the direction. Kuklinski has a code, but he also has no moral or emotional compunction preventing him from killing. The Iceman is a layered character, and Shannon's performance is excellent.
The film follows Richie from the mid-60s to his death in 2006. He's initially a small-time criminal who makes his living dubbing adult films, but a chance encounter with a high-ranking Mafioso gives him a new calling as a contract killer. He discovers quickly that he's good at his job and that it provides him the cash to live a normal life. His life as a professional murderer seems to bore him more than anything, but he loves the life it provides his wife and daughters. After leaving a young girl alive at the scene of a crime, Kuklinski loses the faith of his boss and winds up unemployed. Enter Robert "Mr. Freezie" Pronge, a fellow contract killer with some genuine passion for the gig and absolutely no moral limits. Desperate for cash, Kuklinski partners with Pronge, taking on more risk to keep his income healthy. Things only get worse for The Iceman, and as his family is brought into danger, his violence and his lies come back to haunt him. It's a fairly simple mafia story from the perspective of a single monster within it, but it's well-executed enough to focus on the characters.
Shannon is fantastic in his role, but he's not the only one who does a great job. The late great Ray Liotta portrays Kuklinski's boss, real-life mobster Roy DeMeo. The character is less lethal than his real-life inspiration, but Liotta is an obvious perfect choice. A much less obvious choice comes in the casting of Robert Pronge. When one pictures a contract killer who delights in the death of the innocent, they don't typically picture Chris Evans, but he's surprisingly great in the role. Winona Ryder appears as Kuklinski's long-suffering wife, and she excels at portraying the character at multiple stages of their toxic relationship. The supporting cast includes James Franco and David Schwimmer, but even they play their parts well.
The Iceman is a solid true-crime thriller that centers on some excellent performances. It's a dour watch without a lot of moments of levity, but those who are interested in the life of an almost mythically horrible person will find a lot to like here. The film enjoyed a limited release in the United States and is weighed down with mixed reviews today, but there's a lot more hit than miss. The Iceman is a simple straightforward biopic with the kind of hard edge that makes it a gripping journey.