**This post contains spoilers**
The Story- Unbeknownst to his wife, Deborah (Winona Ryder), and his daughters, Anabel (McKaley Miller) and Betsy (Megan Sherrill), Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) lives a secret double life as a hitman, working exclusively for Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta). Richard’s relationship with Roy hits a snag, so Richard forms a duo with Robert Pronge (Chris Evans) to fulfill more murder contracts.
After a botched hit, Richard draws the ire of Leo Merks (Robert Davi), and Richard runs into more problems after threats from an irate Roy Demeo. The arrival of Dominick Provenzano (Eduardo Yanez) further complicates a messy situation, as Richard struggles to keep his family life separate from the seedy underworld of a contract killer and the mafia.
My Thoughts- Michael Shannon is undoubtedly one of the masters for showing believable rage, and his talents are on full display here, including the tirades, the tantrums, and his facial expressions. Shannon does a phenomenal job of convincing you that Richard Kuklinski is a seemingly normal guy, with a hushed voice on the surface, but he’s also a ticking time bomb, who’s capable of exploding in the blink of an eye. You really get to see how dangerous Richard’s temper is in certain scenes, when his anger slowly reaches a boiling point, because you know something bad is about to happen.
But there’s another side of Richard. At home, and around his family, Richard is the dedicated husband and a loving father. Michael Shannon nails the family guy side of Richard. Kuklinski was a violent mess of a man, but there’s no denying the fact that he truly loved his family. Shannon also shows a calmer and more normal version of Richard. The first coffee date with Deborah and his speech at Anabel’s birthday party? You won’t see a raging lunatic or The Iceman. No, Richard is socially awkward, and he’s noticeably nervous during both scenes.
Winona Ryder truly delivers a good performance as Deborah. Ryder plays the sweet and innocent wife, but she’s also not afraid to stand up to Richard, to push back, and Deborah calls Richard out on his BS. Shannon and Ryder share believable chemistry together, as a married couple going through their ups and downs.
The relationship between Deborah and Richard is a strange one. Deborah is the pure and good-hearted woman, who’s married to Richard, the fire-breathing dragon. Richard and Deborah’s marriage adds another emotional layer to the movie, more drama for the good woman, who married a monster with horrible secrets.
Ray Liotta? He was always a perfect fit for mob or mob related movies. Liotta excelled at playing a jerk, and he delivers as Roy DeMeo, a mean and merciless bastard. John Ventimiglia has a handful of moments as one of DeMeo’s goons. And a thumbs up for David Schwimmer playing the clueless dope, who makes one too many stupid mistakes, as the guy, who just can’t get out of his own way.
Chris Evans’ Robert Pronge teaming up with Kuklinski adds some dark humor to the movie. Evans’ notable performance as the hitman, who moonlights as an ice cream truck driver is one of the highlights here. Chris Evans knocks it out of the park, because you can easily see Pronge is completely insane. Unlike Richard, Pronge doesn’t have a moral code, none whatsoever. If he has to kill women and children, he will, no questions asked.
Pronge casually and gleefully talks about freezing dead bodies, how he easily chops up corpses, and Pronge openly brags about the conveniences of murdering people with cyanide. The dynamic between Pronge and Kuklinski adds another sinister layer to the movie, because you’re looking at two extremely dangerous men working together. You could say Pronge is more of a cerebral and crafty assassin, while Richard was a far more direct and brutal killer. As the story progresses, the partnership between the two gets more tense after two botched hits.
It’s a setup! Dominick Provenzano reveals himself as an undercover agent, and Richard is hauled off to jail for the rest of his life. A surprising ending to Richard’s story? Well, no, it’s not, not at all. Look, even if you don’t know anything about Richard Kuklinski, or his story, hitmen and serial killers don’t have happy endings. SOMETHING bad always happens, when they’re ready to or close to getting out of the life. It’s a tale as old as time itself.
But the big sting operation to end the movie brings the drama. Richard locking eyes with Deborah, as the police car drives off is one moment that sticks out for me. Notice the reactions. Deborah is heartbroken, confused, and she’s completely hysterical. Richard? Stone faced. After he calms down, no tears, he’s not banging on the window, and he doesn’t have any reassuring words for his wife. Why? Well, it’s easy to assume Richard finally accepted his fate. No more hiding, or lies for Deborah, because the truth about who he was, and his second life was going to be exposed soon.
Fact or fiction? It’s the big question to ask about Richard Kuklinski’s life as a mafia hitman. Did he work for Roy DeMeo? Is Kuklinski’s actual total kill count greatly exaggerated? Did he work for other mafia families? I just finished reading The Ice Man: Confessions Of A Mafia Contract Killer, by Philip Carlo, so I wanted to rewatch The Iceman.
It’s easy to come to the conclusion that Kuklinski was full of shit, or at least mostly full of it. One thing in Carlo’s book that caught my eyes was Kuklinski supposedly being DeMeo’s “secret weapon.” Okay, IF Kuklinski was DeMeo’s big secret, then how is it possible Richard was filling murder contracts with other mafia families, traveling across the US to execute his targets, and his services were requested in Europe and South America? How did other people know about his efficiency, if he shared a tight-lipped relationship with DeMeo? You’re telling me word-of-mouth praises about Kuklinski’s work reached other parts of the world? It doesn’t make any sense. Roy DeMeo and his crew were a pack of vicious and sadistic killers, so why would they need “The Big Guy” to kill people for them?
And some of the stories about the people Kuklinski allegedly killed are a bit too theatrical and over the top. One good example here is the scene, with James Franco playing a creepy pervert. Marty (Franco) starts begging for God’s help, and Kuklinski tells him he’ll spare his life, if God comes down and intervenes. Well, you could probably guess what happens next, but it’s one of Kuklinski’s more infamous stories about his days as a hitman.
The hits for high profiled mafia bosses? Kuklinski was supposedly requested to join the hit squads to take out big time mafia bosses. But going by his own words, there was no reason at all for Kuklinski to participate. Why? Because he was a stealthy killer, and they wouldn’t see him coming? Bottom line, his presence wasn’t necessary, and they already had more than enough guns on the scene.
All of the random murders, where Kuklinski killed people to hone his craft, or if someone simply did something to piss him off? Yeah, I have a hard time believing those stories. There’s a story in the book about Kuklinski shooting a hitchhiker, because the guy flipped him off. Kuklinski felt disrespected, so he shot the hitchhiker to death, where anyone could see him.
The funny thing about Philip Carlo’s book is, once you know and start to realize it’s mostly fabricated bullshit, Confessions Of A Mafia Contract Killer reads like a crime fiction novel, or a mafia thriller. I can understand being lucky, but no one is that lucky. The book has numerous stories from Richard about how he killed people, sometimes luring them to their deaths with a flat tire, but over the years, someone would’ve inevitably caught him in the act.
There’s also a lot to unpack with Richard’s family life. The Iceman definitely leans in the direction of trying to show a more sympathetic tone for Kuklinski. He had a terrible childhood. His father was an abusive asshole, and maybe you could make the argument that Richard never had a chance.
Well, there’s a lot of truths about Richard’s upbringing. Stanley, his father, was a monster. Kuklinski himself said he should’ve killed him, and he regretted missing the chance to do it. And Richard’s mother, in his own words, was “cancer,” because she was also someone, who could be physically abusive.
The Iceman tries to paint Richard and Deborah’s marriage as this mushy fairy tale-esque romance, complete with the turmoil and trials and tribulations of any other married couple, but the real story doesn’t fall under the happily ever after tab.
Richard was violent towards his real wife, Barbara. It didn’t matter if they were in front of their children, or alone in the house, or the same room together, Richard wouldn’t hesitate to fly off the handle and beat Barbara. Also, Kuklinski was a very possessive man. Richard stabbed Barbara with a knife and he threatened to kill her family in the early stages of their relationship, because Barbara was feeling smothered by Richard. His idea of pursuing Barbara revolved around becoming an obsessive stalker, and she couldn’t take it anymore.
Kuklinski did have two daughters named Merrick and Chris. After everything he did, Merrick still deeply loved her father. But there was a time, where Chris and Barbara plotted to kill Richard together. Chris and Barbara ultimately decided against it, because it was too risky, if they didn’t finish the job. Richard also had a son named Dwayne with Barbara. Only two daughters in The Iceman. No son, no references, or any hints for a third child. It’s no real surprise, but Dwayne was not fond of Richard growing up.
If you’ve ever seen any of the HBO interviews/documentaries, Kuklinski actually comes off as someone that’s possibly credible. Kuklinski calmly sits down, going over the gruesome details of his murders, cracking a sinister grin as he goes every now and then. He was a big guy, and Kuklinski had a cold demeanor. He looked the part, and he played it well. To add to that, Kuklinski was a captivating storyteller. More than capable of having anyone, who listened to him hanging on his every word, Kuklinski’s gory tales checked off all the boxes for true crime lore.
Of course, there’s always a chance Kuklinski dabbled in mob related activities. Maybe he also filled a handful of murder contracts? Who knows for sure, but everything starts to go off the rails, when Kuklinski’s status as a hitman reaches the levels of an underground legend, with cat-like reflexes, who eluded certain death and law enforcement agencies for years. Tearing off the layers of fiction, Kuklinski was certainly a predator, a serial killer, a crook, and a guy, who also made money from bootlegging porn. And Richard apparently blew a lot of his money, because he was a careless gambling addict.
But one thing’s for sure, Kuklinski’s story is a perfect fit for a Hollywood movie. What can or what can’t be corroborated, the lies, and all the smoke and mirrors. Sure, you can easily label Richard Kuklinski as a pathological liar. Still, the family man living in the suburbs of New Jersey, while he quietly operates in the shadows as a mafia hitman, is a story that’s capable of raising eyebrows.
The Iceman plays out like a predictable true crime drama. It moves from point A to point B and so on. And as soon as Richard realizes the big problem with his cyanide from Dominick, you know what’s about to happen. But the cast is simply excellent from top to bottom, including Robert Davi and Stephen Dorff. During Dorff’s first and only appearance in the movie, you’ll immediately know Joesph Kuklinski is a massive slimeball. Joesph Kuklinski never deserved an ounce of sympathy, and rotting in prison was a justified punishment for him.
Lots of violence and a decent amount of blood for the story about an ice-cold killer. Good acting saves The Iceman from being a complete dud. There’s a lot of potential for a truly great film here, but they weirdly settled for going through the motions from start to finish, the kind of movie, where you’ll know what happens before it actually happens.
Rating- 7/10
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