Review: The Iceman

The Iceman tells the story of Richard Kuklinksi, mass murderer and contract killer, who slaughtered people who didn't show no respect to the Gambinos. From the late 1940s to his arrest in the 1980s, Kuklinski worked for various Italian mafia outfits in New York and New Jersey, mostly the DeMeo crew. The interesting thing about this guy, who ended the lives of one to three hundred people, is that he lived a pretty normal existence. His family had no idea until his arrest that he was anything other than an average Joe. Kuklinski was meticulous in his separation of wiseguy work and suburban homelife in a New Jersey suburb. This is what the film really focuses on: a tenebrous biopic of his family for one half and his professional rise for the other.

Michael Shannon plays Richard 'Polak' Kuklinski brilliantly, his psychopathic lunacy always ready to burst out of his giant's body. I saw a comparison to his character in Revolutionary Road, and also to Joaquin Phoenix in The Master: brooding, surly, capriciously waiting to damage something. Shannon's whole physical performance was important in a portrayal of a man who barely spoke, and this he certainly did with acumen. Ray Liotta co-starred, playing Ray Liotta. When he first (crocodile skin) loaf(er)s onto the screen, resplendent in fur-lined leather jacket, you know that he’s not going to be playing a new role. Like he was in the recent The Place Beyond the Pines, Liotta is genuinely scary as Gambino associate Roy DeMeo. I would like to see him star in a film soon, as a powerful performance could be achieved. David Scchwimmer plays a schmuck of a mobster- if you ever wanted to see Ross in garish '70s leisurewear with a brylcreemed ponytail and loud moustache then see this. Also amusing is the dodgiest ice cream vendor that you will ever witness, the mass murdering 'Mr. Softy'.

Funnier than Friends

Choc Ice?

In terms of historical accuracy, there are a lot of changes, such as when Kuklinski first started working for DeMeo or the circumstances of death of some of the characters. That stuff ultimately doesn’t matter, because overall accuracy can often only be achieved in a film through the sacrificing of minor details. Where this film does part from the reality is perhaps that he was even more of a lunatic. He severely hurt his wife on a number of occasions, was known to kill for pleasure, tortured victims, and was certainly murdering before the mafia commissioned him.

There is no denying that The Iceman is brutal. Director Ariel Vromaen has not shied away from filming the bloody reality of Kuklisnki, to his credit.  There are some surprisingly amusing moments a la Ross and Mr. Softy. A fear that people often seem to have about gangster films is that they glamorise too much: the lifestyle, especially with the Italians’ style, juxtaposed with the violence often results in the latter’s downplaying, and the dramatic falls of characters at the end become almost irrelevant. Thankfully, this is not the case here. Kuklinski never seemed to get much out of the whole business, except money. We don’t see any of the glamour, just lunacy. It is plain that he is a psychopath and kind of a loner- he hangs around with his family and one or two chums, but mostly just associates. So The Iceman shows the brutal reality, not the glamorous side, of the mafia