The Iceman Reviews
The Playlist
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
Slant Magazine
Michael Shannon has no interior to play with, since the film seems intent on ridding Richie of any emotion other than love for his family, and also no catharsis to build toward.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1.5/4
Fan The Fire
Lack of originality and insipid screenwriting will soon read as the autopsy of this actively tiresome genre.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Top Critic"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
Film Racket
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
A nagging question looms over the entire endeavor: Do you care?
Full Review
| Original Score: C-
Mania.com
Imperfect perhaps, but ultimately undeniable.
Full Review
| Original Score: B-
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-
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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
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
There's not much style here, beyond the uniformly good acting, and even less of a point.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
This is a wise-guy opera with barely one memorable aria.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Film Blather
A drab, remedial gangster film.
Full Review
| Original Score: C-
AV Club
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+
Film Freak Central
The Iceman proves that a movie cannot get by on Michael Shannon's dark charisma alone
Full Review
| Original Score: 1.5/4
Shannon gives an unnerving performance as a man caged in a cruel apathy, maintaining a controlled façade that seems to twitch with barely sublimated distress.
Bloomberg News
Michael Shannon's clenched jaw finds its ideal role in Ariel Vromen's taut hit-man saga "The Iceman."
We Got This Covered
Even though we all knew Michael Shannon would be perfect as Richard Kuklinski, he still manages to mesmerize audiences like we're discovering his unparalleled acting chops all over again.
Full Review
| Original Score: 8/10
IGN Movies
The central story is excellent, and Michael Shannon gives a praise-worthy performance.
Full Review
| Original Score: 7.5/10
Film Journal International
Harsh, gritty-and increasingly grisly-this true-crime story dramatizes the life and bloody career of contract killer Richard Kuklinski: just another suburban dad who never brought his work home.
