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The Iceman (2013)

tomatometer

67

Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 118
Fresh: 79 | Rotten: 39

While it deserved stronger direction and a more fully realized script, Michael Shannon's riveting performance in the title role is more than enough to make The Iceman recommended viewing.

63

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 11

While it deserved stronger direction and a more fully realized script, Michael Shannon's riveting performance in the title role is more than enough to make The Iceman recommended viewing.

audience

65

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 18,335

My Rating

Movie Info

Inspired by actual events, The Iceman follows notorious contract killer Richard Kuklinski (Academy Award (R) nominee Michael Shannon) from his early days in the mob until his arrest for the murder of more than 100 men. Appearing to be living the American dream as a devoted husband and father; in reality Kuklinski was a ruthless killer-for-hire. When finally arrested in 1986, neither his wife nor daughters have any clue about his real profession.(c) Millennium

R,

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Sep 3, 2013

$1.9M

Millennium Entertainment - Official Site External Icon

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Cast

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All Critics (118) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (79) | Rotten (39)

Even the always-watchable Shannon can't give much life to Kuklinski's two-dimensional presence: he's little more than a series of murders and pained looks.

June 4, 2013 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Shannon gets at his character's pent-up torment as well as his efficient disconnect. When his two worlds start to converge -- on his daughter's sweet 16th birthday, no less -- you feel for him.

May 17, 2013 Full Review Source: Denver Post
Denver Post
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A true-crime thriller directed with grit, gristle and punchy energy by Ariel Vromen, The Iceman is never less than fascinating, even if things get a little ham-fisted here and there.

May 17, 2013 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia Inquirer
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As the body count mounts, the movie begins to spin out of control, but Shannon and Vromen don't let it derail. Their focus keep things from melting down.

May 17, 2013 Full Review Source: Detroit News
Detroit News
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Michael Shannon is an overpowering actor, and in The Iceman, the best that he can do is wrestle the movie around him to a stalemate.

May 17, 2013 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a fascinating subject - the beast that lurks inside the family man - but the movie blows it.

May 16, 2013 Full Review Source: Boston Globe
Boston Globe
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's as though they were in a rush to get so much killing in that they forgot all of the important elements that would make us care. As a consequence, a fascinating story and character have been flattened and turned into a hurried mess.

September 2, 2013 Full Review Source: Examiner.com
Examiner.com

'Big bad' with a side dish of bats--t crazy is the specialty of Michael Shannon, and so scarily good he is in mining this wheelhouse that one does not dare to complain about him repeating himself.

August 28, 2013 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com
TheMovieReport.com

An exploitation film trapped in the stifling body of a respectable crime drama.

July 12, 2013 Full Review Source: Movies.com
Movies.com

The Iceman rests on the power of one hell of a performance from Shannon, with this monster of an actor playing a monster of a man with frightening intensity.

June 24, 2013 Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews
Matt's Movie Reviews

The killings quickly begin to bleed into one another and it's sometimes hard to sort out the identities and roles of everyone involved.

June 16, 2013 Full Review Source: Movie Talk
Movie Talk

Ariel Vromen doesn't do so much in terms of the story (which spans 20 years, with corresponding hair fluctuations), but he seems to know his violence, and he's a true artiste when it comes to the queasy polyester ambience that holds this thing together.

June 14, 2013 Full Review Source: Film Comment Magazine
Film Comment Magazine

The film is able to capture its period setting, but the script is a collection of generic Mafia dialogue and cliched violent shootouts.

June 12, 2013 Full Review Source: Cinemalogue.com
Cinemalogue.com

The Iceman is dark and gritty but there's not enough excitement or tension to really pull you in.

June 12, 2013 Full Review Source: Fan The Fire
Fan The Fire

Shannon's mesmerising performance has a Frankenstein edge to it.

June 11, 2013 Full Review Source: Birmingham Mail
Birmingham Mail

Mistaking leaden atmosphere for gravitas, Vromen turns what could have been a vibrant period drama (it runs from the 1950s through to Kuklinski's arrest in 1986) into a sludgy ordeal ...

June 10, 2013 Full Review Source: Scotsman

A truly mesmerising turn by Shannon that allows him to cultivate all his ugly thoughts into one brooding menace ...

June 9, 2013 Full Review Source: HeyUGuys

As a chronicle of one of America's most infamous criminals, it's a chilling one. Much of that credit must go to Shannon however, who delivers inspired work sometimes in spite of the mostly conventional feature around him.

June 8, 2013 Full Review Source: Quickflix
Quickflix

Much more involving than the usual hitman thriller, this film takes a deliberately personal approach to its characters that makes it unusually involving.

June 7, 2013 Full Review Source: Contactmusic.com
Contactmusic.com

Both compelling character study and well crafted mob thriller ...

June 7, 2013 Full Review Source: Daily Express
Daily Express

What makes it at all special is Shannon, who's terrific playing the human being behind the murderer, a man so psychopathic that he doesn't realise he's actually a monster posing as a man.

June 7, 2013 Full Review Source: Radio Times
Radio Times

The Iceman is a welcome adult thriller and its neat period touches will help to transfix many from start to finish.

June 7, 2013 Full Review Source: Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post

Unfortunately, the movie runs out of things to say about its monosyllabic hero within a half-hour, after which the killings become repetitive.

June 6, 2013 Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK]
Daily Mail [UK]

The Iceman is like a gangster's cold locker: all the nutritive items have been taken out to make room for the dead bodies.

June 6, 2013 Full Review Source: Financial Times
Financial Times

Nothing else in Ariel Vromen's movie is remotely on Shannon's level, from the plodding, Scorsese-clone script to the needlessly lifeless editing and cinematography.

June 6, 2013 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph
Daily Telegraph

Suspect barnets aside, there's not a lot to take away from this by-the-numbers genre piece.

June 6, 2013 Full Review Source: Little White Lies
Little White Lies

Audience Reviews for The Iceman

A stone cold, heavy drama based on true events of contracted killer Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) and how he tries to balance his unique career with a family. Shannon, one of the best actors out there, is phenomenal for what he is given, which is not much seeing how two-dimensional his character is and the source material does not really detail the psychosis for why he decides to start killing people, despite some last ditch effort at the very end given in a monologue to the viewer which feels forced. With that said, it is pretty well paced, it is often chilling in terms of the murders committed, and as said the acting is very good, but overall it is missable just because of how genuinely vague it is given why this character is the way he is. Shannon is one of those actors for me that I will see anything he does, but this is definitely one of his least impressive movies from a writing standpoint.
September 27, 2013
Dan Schultz

Super Reviewer

***1/2

Michael Shannon is one weird, creepy actor and he is awesome for it. Here, he is at his creepiest as a serial killer hitman nicknamed The Iceman. Based on a true story, he kills over a hundred people. This isn't so much about his murders(although there are a lot of them). It's more about how he balances his home life as a husband and father of two, with his life as a killer. It's interesting and intense. The supporting cast is great with Winona Ryder, Ray Liotta, James Franco, and Chris Evans, who is completely disguised. But this is Shannon's movie. If you enjoyed him in "Take Shelter" or on "Boardwalk Empire", then this is a must watch. I can see him getting award recognition for this. The biggest issue with the movie is the pacing. It's kind of slow and tedious in spots, but overall it's still entertaining. Worth a watch.
September 25, 2013
Everett Johnson

Super Reviewer

    1. Mr. Freezy: I only feel alone around other people. Couldn't be truer.
    – Submitted by ScubaSteve Walter M (21 days ago)
    1. Richard Kuklinski: You see the Iceman crying?
    – Submitted by Prattay S (55 days ago)
View all quotes (2)

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