"The Iceman" (2013)

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The Iceman is a biopic of the notorious contract killer Richard Kuklinski, who kept his true professional life hidden from his family.
I have to admit, this is a hard movie to talk about. Since I don't know the true story, my only hope was the film would tell it well enough to hold my interest.
Well, it half succeeded. During the first half, I was really struck by the earnestly morose tone, and could follow the proceedings without any difficulty. But, as the film progressed, I found it increasingly hard to understand what was going on and how the various events were connected – probably because I was having trouble cracking the dialogue. While I wasn't completely lost, it did leave me increasingly confused.
The brilliance of Michael Shannon's performance as Kuklinski never faltered, though. :) He's portrayed as a very cold, professional killer, completely unflinching. But he still truly loves his family – indeed, as he puts it, they're the only people who mean anything at all to him. So, when they're threatened later on, you start to get desperately worried just as he does. Also, after Man of Steel, it's such a relief to see Michael Shannon give a performance to be proud of within the same year! :)
To sum it up, while I might need to see it again to fully understand it, I'd still recommend this to anyone who wants to see a solid contract killer story. It's not great, but it's very effective.

My rating: 70%