Post by taleweaver on Jan 23, 2011 7:39:09 GMT -5
TITLE: The Killer inside me
RELEASED: 2010
STARS: Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson and Simon Baker
TAGLINE: No one ever sees it coming
SUMMARY: A mild-mannered Deputy Sherriff and all-around good guy tells – and shows – the audience that he’s actually a psychopathic murderer. As the body count rises, the DA closes in, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that justice will be done.
RATING: Technically, this is 5 stars. Gripping script, excellent acting – but ‘enjoyable’ isn’t on the menu.
In June 2010, I managed to take a trip through Paris’ famous catacombs. It was interesting, and a worthwhile experience, but I can’t say I actually enjoyed it... and given what’s actually on display, I don’t think I really should have. Watching ‘The Killer Inside Me’ was a very similar experience.
We’re introduced to Lou Ford (Affleck) on a fairly typical day – driving around the small town where he was born and raised, doing his job as a Deputy Sherriff, talking to townspeople he’s helped in the past. But then Lou heads out to run prostitute Joyce Lakeland (Alba) out of town – and when their encounter turns violent, Lou finds a willing partner for his hidden sado-masochistic desires. His new relationship with Joyce is the final straw – tipping him permanently off the knife-edge of control that he’s walked (most) of his life into a full-blown psychopath.
Lou decides that he’s going to settle an old score on behalf of his foster brother, get rich, and get the hell out of town. The fact that this involves killing two people doesn’t bother him. But things don’t go to plan, and Ford finds that he has to keep adding to his body count in order to stay ahead of suspicious DA Howard Hendricks (Baker).
Casey Affleck has officially joined Joseph Gordon-Levitt in my ‘why doesn’t this man have an Oscar, already???’ club. He’s note-perfect and perfectly chilling as Ford, whose voice-over makes killing people who love you seem perfectly reasonable. But the frank brutality of what’s showing on screen means that you can’t ever buy into his worldview, or sympathise with it.
Almost as good (and with a benchmark like Affleck, ‘almost’ is more like ‘excellent’) is Jessica Alba as Joyce, turning in a dreamy, understated performance, who makes her twisted love story with Ford utterly convincing. I’ve long thought that Alba is an actor with lots of potential, but who needs a skilled director and a good script to bring out her talent. (For a positive example, see Sin City. For a bad example, see the Fantastic Four movies ) Luckily, as her star rises she seems to be concentrating on roles that enhance her credibility as an actor - I’m really interested in seeing how she does in ‘Machete’.
Kate Hudson turns in one of the best performances I’ve seen her give as Ford’s girlfriend Amy, who senses that something’s wrong but can’t comprehend the true nature of the man she loves.
Anyone who’s seen The Mentalist won’t be remotely surprised at the smooth ultra-competence of Baker, who manages to add layers to what would otherwise be a one-note role. The friend I saw this with (an actor herself) thought that Baker struck a jarring note as almost the only person in the cast not wielding a Texas accent. I rather thought that was the point - Hendricks sees past Ford’s mask because he is an outsider; Ford hides behind the town’s preconceived perception of him as much as he hides behind his own carefully constructed false face.
But I really don’t see the purpose of Bill Pullman’s character. He’s literally on screen for less than five minutes, and all he does really is put Ford in the right place for the final scene. A taxi could have done that.
I’ve heard that several women’s rights groups (and several other reviewers at imdb) have targeted this movie for violence against women, labelling it ‘gratuitous’. With all due respect, I think they’re missing the point, and should go bother Eli Roth or the producers of the ‘Saw’ movies instead. Yes, there is considerable violence against women, but it’s shown to be a terrible thing – Lou is a monster, and so are the things he does. It’s not glamorised or shown to be appealing in any way.
This isn’t a comfortable movie, but it’s an interesting and high-quality one, that intrigues rather than entertains.
INTERMISSION
‘The Killer Inside Me’ is based on a 1950 novel by Jim Thompson. It was originally supposed to be filmed in 1962 with Elizabeth Taylor as Amy and Marilyn Munroe as Joyce, but was shelved by Munroe’s death. Originally filmed in 1976, several attempts were made to re-make it, with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Leonardo diCaprio all attached to play Ford, but none came to fruition.
QUOTES
Ford (voiceover): The problem with living in a small town is that everyone’s convinced they already know what you are.
Ford: I killed those two people.
Johnny Pappas: Well, yeah... but they had it coming, right?
Ford: No one has it coming. That’s why no one ever sees it coming.
QUESTIONS
[WARNING! SPOILERS]
RELEASED: 2010
STARS: Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson and Simon Baker
TAGLINE: No one ever sees it coming
SUMMARY: A mild-mannered Deputy Sherriff and all-around good guy tells – and shows – the audience that he’s actually a psychopathic murderer. As the body count rises, the DA closes in, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that justice will be done.
RATING: Technically, this is 5 stars. Gripping script, excellent acting – but ‘enjoyable’ isn’t on the menu.
In June 2010, I managed to take a trip through Paris’ famous catacombs. It was interesting, and a worthwhile experience, but I can’t say I actually enjoyed it... and given what’s actually on display, I don’t think I really should have. Watching ‘The Killer Inside Me’ was a very similar experience.
We’re introduced to Lou Ford (Affleck) on a fairly typical day – driving around the small town where he was born and raised, doing his job as a Deputy Sherriff, talking to townspeople he’s helped in the past. But then Lou heads out to run prostitute Joyce Lakeland (Alba) out of town – and when their encounter turns violent, Lou finds a willing partner for his hidden sado-masochistic desires. His new relationship with Joyce is the final straw – tipping him permanently off the knife-edge of control that he’s walked (most) of his life into a full-blown psychopath.
Lou decides that he’s going to settle an old score on behalf of his foster brother, get rich, and get the hell out of town. The fact that this involves killing two people doesn’t bother him. But things don’t go to plan, and Ford finds that he has to keep adding to his body count in order to stay ahead of suspicious DA Howard Hendricks (Baker).
Casey Affleck has officially joined Joseph Gordon-Levitt in my ‘why doesn’t this man have an Oscar, already???’ club. He’s note-perfect and perfectly chilling as Ford, whose voice-over makes killing people who love you seem perfectly reasonable. But the frank brutality of what’s showing on screen means that you can’t ever buy into his worldview, or sympathise with it.
Almost as good (and with a benchmark like Affleck, ‘almost’ is more like ‘excellent’) is Jessica Alba as Joyce, turning in a dreamy, understated performance, who makes her twisted love story with Ford utterly convincing. I’ve long thought that Alba is an actor with lots of potential, but who needs a skilled director and a good script to bring out her talent. (For a positive example, see Sin City. For a bad example, see the Fantastic Four movies ) Luckily, as her star rises she seems to be concentrating on roles that enhance her credibility as an actor - I’m really interested in seeing how she does in ‘Machete’.
Kate Hudson turns in one of the best performances I’ve seen her give as Ford’s girlfriend Amy, who senses that something’s wrong but can’t comprehend the true nature of the man she loves.
Anyone who’s seen The Mentalist won’t be remotely surprised at the smooth ultra-competence of Baker, who manages to add layers to what would otherwise be a one-note role. The friend I saw this with (an actor herself) thought that Baker struck a jarring note as almost the only person in the cast not wielding a Texas accent. I rather thought that was the point - Hendricks sees past Ford’s mask because he is an outsider; Ford hides behind the town’s preconceived perception of him as much as he hides behind his own carefully constructed false face.
But I really don’t see the purpose of Bill Pullman’s character. He’s literally on screen for less than five minutes, and all he does really is put Ford in the right place for the final scene. A taxi could have done that.
I’ve heard that several women’s rights groups (and several other reviewers at imdb) have targeted this movie for violence against women, labelling it ‘gratuitous’. With all due respect, I think they’re missing the point, and should go bother Eli Roth or the producers of the ‘Saw’ movies instead. Yes, there is considerable violence against women, but it’s shown to be a terrible thing – Lou is a monster, and so are the things he does. It’s not glamorised or shown to be appealing in any way.
This isn’t a comfortable movie, but it’s an interesting and high-quality one, that intrigues rather than entertains.
INTERMISSION
‘The Killer Inside Me’ is based on a 1950 novel by Jim Thompson. It was originally supposed to be filmed in 1962 with Elizabeth Taylor as Amy and Marilyn Munroe as Joyce, but was shelved by Munroe’s death. Originally filmed in 1976, several attempts were made to re-make it, with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Leonardo diCaprio all attached to play Ford, but none came to fruition.
QUOTES
Ford (voiceover): The problem with living in a small town is that everyone’s convinced they already know what you are.
Ford: I killed those two people.
Johnny Pappas: Well, yeah... but they had it coming, right?
Ford: No one has it coming. That’s why no one ever sees it coming.
QUESTIONS
[WARNING! SPOILERS]
Ford pretty much soaked the entire house in gas and alcohol. Why didn’t a single person in the final confrontation smell something before everything went up in smoke?
Well, that ending certainly brought new meaning to the phrase ‘going out with a bang’. It made for a very abrupt ending... but then, there’s really nothing left to say, is there?
