This is yet another time period movie I watched this past weekend, and this one is based on a true story. It tells the story of Richard Kuklinski, a hitman for the Mafia who was called the Iceman due to having frozen a victim to prevent authorities from figuring out when the victim died.

Although the movie is based on at true story- there are some inconsistencies- for example, the movie advertises him as possibly having killed at least 100 people, however from what I read online, he was only convicted of killing 5, and authorities doubt the veracity of his claims that he killed a lot more. One person put it at maybe 15 tops. Also in the movie, his wife (played by Winona Ryder in the movie), is named Deborah- but it appears that in real life, her name was Barbara. I don’t know much about the history of Richard Kuklinski (played by Michael Shannon), so I can’t tell you how closely the rest of the movie compares to what really happened in life- so if you watch the movie, I suggest taking it with a grain of salt. I think with any movie based on a true story, some dramatization is to be expected, but this one seems to do it more so.

But if you look at the movie with a different lens (as a mafia-based crime thriller), Michael Shannon is great as a mentally unbalanced hit man struggling between his love for his wife and two daughters and his desire or need to work as a hitman. Chris Evans is great as a creepy fellow hitman. Ray Liotta (are you surprised?), and David Schwimmer also costars. James Franco has one or two scenes.

I would put this movie in about the middle of the pack of the list of Mafia movies. It’s very good, but not stellar, and not horrible. If you like crime or mafia thrillers, this one might be for you.