The Iceman Reviews

The Iceman offers a chronological view into the life of its title protagonist... and what a life it is.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

The film is at its best when it navigates the contradiction at the heart of this man, generating interest and tension as it parallels his home life with his profession.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Imperfect perhaps, but ultimately undeniable.

Full Review | Original Score: B-

The script is so straight-ahead, and Shannon's performance is so forceful, that The Iceman doesn't offer any real insight into this monster, but if you just want to glimpse a character capable of genuine evil, it's effectively chilling.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Michael Shannon's clenched jaw finds its ideal role in Ariel Vromen's taut hit-man saga "The Iceman."

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There's not much style here, beyond the uniformly good acting, and even less of a point.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

It's never a painful watch, more of a faintly dull, seen-it-all-before one. If nothing else, it's evidence that these days, being based on a true story isn't enough to elevate a film in a well-worn genre ahead of the pack.

Full Review | Original Score: C

The film is well made and holds interest, but I deplore the delicate treatment and the shading of truth of this despicable beast. Watching Vroman's take, one almost feels sympathy for him.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10

"The Iceman's" problem rests instead with the script, which the director wrote with Morgan Land, his collaborator on the "Rx" screenplay. It never gets underneath Kuklinski's skin in a way that illuminates the psychosis.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

Michael Shannon's mesmerizing portrayal of Richard Kuklinski, a notorious contract killer, has the paradoxical quality, peculiar to many great screen performances, of being unreadable and transparent.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5

Shannon inhabits this character so completely that by the end of this hard-to-watch, hard-to-look-away-from movie you feel you can, if not understand Richie, at least wish he had found some redemption in life.

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Shannon is brilliantly unnerving as he callously dispenses with people, then returns home to maintain his façade of a loving husband and father.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Michael Shannon moves through "The Iceman" like a shark.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

[A]n oft-told tale, though one that does come alive in a few places that make it worth a look. The always electrifying Michael Shannon... enjoys what may be the fullest expression of his smoldering onscreen rage yet.

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Vromen's period detail-slathered film (read: much unfortunate facial hair) exhausts itself trying to jam in as many cliches as possible.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5

Shannon could be looking at an Oscar nomination. His performance is that stone-cold good.

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A sketchy, flatly directed biopic based on one of the most compelling true crime stories out of New Jersey ...

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

Alternating scenes of the psycho-as-family-man with an increasingly grisly and desperate series of hits, it makes for a surprisingly monotonous sit for a movie that also features a killer named Mr. Freezy.

Full Review | Original Score: C+

With his chiseled-from-granite brow and harrowing, coiled-spring intensity, Michael Shannon is one of those actors who can make just about any movie interesting. And he has his work cut out for him in The Iceman ...

Full Review | Original Score: B-

The Iceman is a tense dramatic thriller presenting a grim - yet seemingly more picturesque - portrayal of a cold and calculated killer, a role that is tailor made for the ferociously intense Michael Shannon.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10