Best movie ever!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

I was completely unfamiliar with the story of Richard Kuklinski, but was attracted to the movie by the compelling true story that served as the description of the movie. In "The Iceman, we're given a look at Kuklinski's life. Played here by Michael Shannon, Kuklinksi was an ice cold (thus, along with freezing his victims, his nickname and the name of the film) contract killer who over the course of his life murdered perhaps as many as 200 people - possibly even more. The movie gives us a taste of his "career" as a serial killer, along with a look at his home life with his wife (played by Winona Ryder) and two daughters. The most interesting part of the movie (and the real story of his life) is the way he essentially compartmentalized the two parts of his life, to the extent that his family (while they may have had some suspicions that he was involved in crime) never knew that he was a contract killer. It was interesting watching that aspect of his life, interspersed with some of his experiences with various mob figures. And I'd say that the performances of both Shannon and Ryder were pretty good. But I felt that the movie itself could have been better; could have accomplished more; could have given us more of a feel for Kuklinski's life. Instead, it seemed rushed and disjointed. There wasn't enough depth given to Kuklinski, and the result was that the movie, while interesting, was also at times confusing. It was hard to make the connections from one scene to the next. Sometimes it seemed as if years had elapsed between scenes. At times, this seemed more like a series of vignettes of Kuklinski's life rather than a well developed account of how he became who he was. I certainly wanted to see it through to the end - there was never any sense that I had wasted my time by watching it. But it wasn't entirely satisfying, either.And having researched a bit about Kuklinski I wondered why they makers of the movie felt the need to take such great liberties with the "family" side of the story. I can understand why they would change the names of his wife and daughters - but a lot was off in the timing. I do't remember any mention of him having been married before. In the movie there were only two daughters - but there was also a son. And the movie strangely claimed that after he was finally arrested and sent to prison, he never saw his family again - which wasn't true. There were phone calls, and there were some visits (and in fact his wife and one daughter visited him in the prison hospital shortly before he died.) Was there a feeling that the made up story would make this a more interesting movie? It didn't. Once I found out the truth, it just seemed like a strange decision.It was a decent movie, and it inspired me to want to find out more about Kuklinski's story. So it deserves some credit for that. (6/10)

The distribution team and the creative team behind The Iceman must have had different views on what the film was. The distributors must have seen a more prestige picture, hence the Venice and Toronto festival screenings along with a limited theatrical release. The creators, on the other hand, saw this as a mid-level gangster-thriller that was more for general audiences than festival crowds. This difference probably led to the film following into obscurity quickly. A silver lining to that previous statement is that this film could now be considered a hidden gem for fans of straight-forward entertaining gangster films. The film tells the violent middle life of Richard Kuklinski aka "The Iceman"(Michael Shannon), a hitman for the mob who is estimated to have killed between 100-250 people in New York from the 60s to 80s. Richard is a devoted family man, especially to his loyal wife Deborah (Winona Ryder). He never lets his family know what he really does, hiding the truth behind lies about working for banks and dubbing Disney films. Richard is good at what he does, which initially leads him to work for mob boss Roy Demeo (Ray Liotta). After years of working for Demeo, Richard is forced out and teams up with fellow hitman "Mr. Freezy" (Chris Evans). Together they make a great pair as Richard does the hits and Freezy dumps the bodies. Eventually, Richard's job takes hold of his life, turning everything he loves upside down and against him.The Iceman never presents itself as a prestige gangster film like Goodfellas. The director and crew know they are making an ordinary film that is purely for entertainment. However, just because this is for entertainment doesn't mean it's is perfect. The overall plot is handled rather poorly as some characters don't get enough time to make themselves unique. Ray Liotta's storyline is never completed and is left on a bad note. James Franco pops up for about three minutes in a subplot that feels too forced into revealing Richard's motivations. The Iceman is also strife with historical inaccuracies. Liberties must be taken when adapting real life, but this film takes it a step too far. Richard's true past and violent relationship with his wife are scrubbed for a version that is more cinematically useable. Anybody familiar with the real story of Kuklinski will most likely not enjoy this film.The camera work by Bobby Bukowski gives the film a documentary look. Even though this is a biopic, we never get that feeling. Darkness is always on the edge of the frame as we watch every moment with constant fear. Tension is always present as each character is always in danger of being killed.Michael Shannon is brilliant again as one of America's most infamous killers. Shannon uses his natural psychotic looks to blend in perfectly. He also uses his rage and stone cold face to create a feeling of fear and mystery around Richard. Winona Ryder gives one of her better performances as the oblivious wife that cares too much. She's in over her head, but she doesn't realize it until it's too late. Chris Evans is almost unrecognizable behind long hair and facial hair. He does an acceptable job as a killer that gets almost too much pleasure from his work.Finally, Ray Liotta keeps his streak of supporting roles going. He just does an alright job as he plays the stereotypical mob boss. He doesn't add anything new and mostly spouts the same lines we've heard in every other gangster film.If you're coming into this film expecting a high-grade gangster film, you're going to be disappointed. This film is for the audience that enjoys linear action and straightforward storytelling. Boasting one of Michael Shannon's best performances, The Iceman is an acceptable and entertaining film that doesn't take itself, or history, too seriously.

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")

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.