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Casey Affleck is an immensely talented actor. He's demonstrated it before, but he validates it in THE KILLER INSIDE ME by taking what would have otherwise been a dull noir about a psychopath trying to cover his tracks and turning it into a very interesting character study.
Many actors can only play one or two notes in their performances, but Affleck can look entirely tame and innocent and suddenly become savagely menacing. The ability to make that transition proves crucial to his role as the protagonist of this film, Lou Ford. What a coincidence that his character in this film shares the last name of the villain that Affleck also brilliantly played three years ago (a performance for which he scored a best supporting actor nomination).
The violence in THE KILLER INSIDE ME is extreme and will disturb even people who don't think much of the gore-fest that we see in most horror movies. That's because the violent scenes in THE KILLER INSIDE ME don't feature a psychopath tracking a group of teens and disposing of them. Instead, the aggression takes place in domestic, usually sex-related circumstances, and the physical abuse towards more than one female character will certainly be too much for some to take. However, those who are calling it unnecessary are failing to appreciate the film's uncompromising approach. Considering the incredible rawness and depth of the lead actor's performance, it would've been an injustice to Affleck if the film had tried to sanitize the plot in any way.
The narrative flow of the movie isn't always solid, and while Affleck's voiceovers are effective, the editors could've made better decisions as to where to place particular bits of the voiceovers. There are also some quasi plot holes (why didn't they check inside Johnnie's cell immediately after Lou's visit ended?).
THE KILLER INSIDE ME is somewhat reminiscent of this year's earlier SHUTTER ISLAND in that it has an unreliable narrator, but the difference is that while the main character in SHUTTER ISLAND had little notion of what was truly happening, in THE KILLER INSIDE ME we have a malevolent protagonist who has no problem messing with the audience's minds as much as he does with the other characters of the film. This gives the amazing Casey Affleck all the room in the world to make this movie more than a merely forgettable piece of cinema.
6/10
