The Iceman

The Iceman is a 2012 American biographical crime film loosely based on hitman Richard Kuklinski. The film was directed by Ariel Vromen and stars Michael Shannon as Kuklinski, with Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, James Franco, and Ray Liotta in supporting roles. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in August 2012 and was theatrically released in the United States on May 3, 2013. It received lukewarm reviews from critics. Plot When a man insults Richard Kuklinski's girlfriend during a game of pool, he follows the man to his car and murders him by slashing his throat. Kuklinski marries Deborah in 1964 and the couple have two daughters. Kuklinski presents himself to everyone as a normal and successful working man, but he has a dark, violent side that he hides. As a boy, he and his younger brother were the subject of brutal beatings from their immigrant Polish father, shaping the boys into emotionally disturbed, sadistic young men. His brother is serving a life sentence in prison for raping and murdering a 12-year old girl. Kuklinski works dubbing pornographic films, but tells his wife he dubs cartoons. The mob-backed company he works for is shut down by Roy DeMeo, a powerful New York City gangster. DeMeo tests Kuklinski by having him kill a homeless man, then hires him as an enforcer and contract killer. In 1975, Kuklinski moves his family into a nice suburban home and starts telling people he works at a currency trading company. He is ordered to kill a man who betrayed DeMeo, but finds a teenage girl in the closet afterwards. Freezy, a freelance hitman also hired by DeMeo, almost kills her, but is stopped by Kuklinski. DeMeo, already involved in a dispute with the Cali Cartel, is furious when he learns what happened and decommissions Kuklinski indefinitely. Needing money, he makes a deal to carry out murders contracted to Freezy in return for half the bounties.