No.222 : The Iceman (2012)

The Iceman at the IMDb

No, it’s not a spin off from ‘Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends’ instead it’s a bio-pic of mob hit man Richard Kuklinski, starring blog second favourite Michael, Mr Shannon.

The film opens with an aged and beardy Shannon being asked if he has any regrets. Before he can answer the film morphs back to 1964 with a younger Shannon on his first date with soon to be wife, Winona Ryder. She admires his tattoos and slow drawl, and even believes his story of being employed as a voice actor for Walt Disney. In fact he has a slightly seedier job copying porno films. He plays pool for cash in a bar and we get a quick taste of his temper when he slashes a man’s throat for giving him some lip.

Meanwhile at the porn lab he takes a slap himself when gang boss Ray Liotta wants to know why his order of porn isn’t ready yet. Ray sees a steely coolness about Shannon and offers him a job as a hit man. Shannon is keen to please and shows his loyalty, and psychopathic tendencies, by gunning down a random beggar. Things go well for a while and Shannon, Ryder and their two daughters move to the suburbs. His cover story is that he’s a currency trader, but it’s more whacks than Marks that he’s into.

Liotta has issues of his own when big boss Robert Davi wants him to kill his idiot henchman David Schwimmer who has stolen some drugs. This causes Liotta to lie low and this puts Shannon out of business. Despite being warned off, he decides to go freelance and hooks up with Captain America’s ‘Mr Whippy’ hit man who uses an ice cream van as cover.

The two soon pile up the bodies, keeping them frozen to disguise their crimes and the dates of death. After one loose talker too many, we are back at the start with Shannon reflecting on his worthless life and lack of regret.

I had high hopes for this film but it dropped off quickly and became a bit dull. It was confusing in places as the double crosses racked up and it was hard to care for a mass murderer whose only redeeming feature was supposedly his loyalty to his family. They touched briefly on his abusive childhood for his motivation but you need some excuse to pardon over 100 confirmed kills.

They did try to sugar coat the character of Richie, but reading the real life accounts it’s clear he was nothing but a murderous and wife beating psycho.

The cast was mostly good with thin material with the likes of James Franco, Chris Evans and Winona all underused. Chris Evans was hidden in a big wig and beard and his casting seemed largely pointless. Better than Franco though, who only got one short scene.

60s/70s New York was well realised with lots of classic cars and brown clothing on show. The film did one of my pets hates in that they had captions for dates of certain events at the start but they quickly disappeared, even when years had clearly passed in terms of fashion. Do it consistently or not at all!

Shannon was OK in the lead with his usual quiet menace. I didn’t really buy the character however and if he was seeking sympathy he got none from me. You could dress this up as a morality tale but ultimately it’s a bloke killing loads of people for money and getting caught. THE END.

THE Tag Line : Will Leave You Cold  - 56%

No.206 : The Interview (2014)

The Interview (2104) at the IMDb

There are a few ‘The Interview’ films out there, hence the year in the title bar. This one is easily the most famous and, when it came out in 2014, it could probably have laid claim to be the most famous ‘Definitive article’ film of all time. That’s why we didn’t review it then. Now that the dust has settled I watched it again and to be fair it still held up. Not sure if it still merits the hype driven 8/10 I gave it then, but I certainly enjoyed it second time around.

The familiar pairing of James Franco and Seth Rogan play a TV host and producer respectively. Franco’s talk show is a ratings hit with stars like Eninem, Rob Lowe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt all lining up to tell their tawdry tales and humiliate themselves. Fair play to them all for having a good old laugh at themselves. Despite the show’s success however, Rogan is unfulfilled and craves the respect of his peers in the mainstream news channels.

Opportunity knocks when a tabloid reveals that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s favourite TV show, along with ’The Big Bang Theory’, is Franco’s. They offer the despot an interview on the show and after a funny trip to China for Rogan, the meeting is set up in North Korea. The CIA however want a piece of the action. Mesmerised by  Lizzy Caplan’s cleavage Franco agrees to their plan to kill Kim by way of a poisoned handshake.

Soon the lads are in Korea and, despite a setback when a guard eats the poison which is disguised as chewing gum, the two have a meeting with the big man who turns out to be that bloke off ‘Veep’. Franco is initially taken with Kim who likes drugs, girls and swearing just like him. He swears off the plot and ditches the replacement poison before learning not all is what it seems.

Will the interview go ahead and will our guys get out alive? Will they stick to the script and is Kim’s love of Katie Perry just a front?

Along with ‘This is the End’ I’d say this is my favourite of the Rogan/Franco films. I don’t like the stoner stuff and this was a bit more measured in its humour. There were some scenes that went a bit far - the fingers getting bitten off for a start, but overall it was well paced and, whilst not believable, it was good fun and made some sort of sense.

It was no surprise that Kim was portrayed as a playboy but the guy from Veep was good value as the war-mongering psycho who liked puppies and boobs. Rogan was probably the better of the main pair with some funny scenes with the hot North Korean lady soldier. Franco seemed a bit erratic, being a complete doofus in places yet having some sharp insights in others.

The CIA angle was mostly well done although it was stretching credibility how switched on their operation was. It seemed unlikely that our Hollywood luvvies would buy into a murder plot so readily, but it worked well, with the 'will they won’t they' aspect keeping me guessing despite having seen the film only a few years back.

That’s not to say it was forgettable; there was just a lot going on, and I could see my having a different favourite scenes when I watch it again in five year’s time.

The ending was a bit pat, but it was well earned with some big laughs and decent stunts along the way.

THE Tag Line : Interview Gets the Job Done 76%