The Iceman
Millennium Entertainment | Release Date: May 3, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMay 2, 2013
If the narrow biographical focus of “The Iceman” prevents it from being a great crime movie, on its own more modest terms it is an indelible film that clinches Mr. Shannon’s status as a major screen actor. Read full review
88
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreApr 30, 2013
The dialogue is hard-bitten and Mamet-sharp. Read full review
80
Total FilmJames MottramMay 27, 2013
Kneel before shannon. His primal, powerhouse turn drives this criminal biopic. the film won’t win any prizes for originality, but its star proves he’s a real man of steel. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 16, 2013
The film is anchored by a searing, incredibly intense performance by Michael Shannon, whose remorselessness as a hit man is as relentless as Shannon’s portrayal of him. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMay 2, 2013
As Richard Kuklinski, the Garden State guy who sleepwalks into an infamously deadly life he was born for, Shannon hits a whole other level. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyApr 26, 2013
The Iceman is a vivid evocation of a remorseless sociopath sustaining a double life as a contract killer and devoted family man. Gritty, gripping and unrelentingly intense, Ariel Vromen’s film boasts richly detailed character work from an ideal cast. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 17, 2013
Because the sociopath at the center of this family portrait never asks for forgiveness, The Iceman is truly chilling. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 16, 2013
So it's a bit squishy at the center. But the film is sleek, purposeful and extremely well acted. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay 4, 2013
It's an unsettling piece that reminds us how even monsters aspire to living the American dream. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigMay 2, 2013
Shannon's restrained and mesmerizing portrayal, bolstered by an excellent offbeat supporting cast, makes for an edgy and compelling Mob yarn. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedApr 30, 2013
The point of The Iceman is “Even monsters are human,” but it takes a great actor to make a dubious theme convincing. Read full review
70
TimeRichard CorlissMay 2, 2013
This Mafia tale doesn’t aspire to the heights of a "Godfather" or the epic sprawl of "The Sopranos." Vromen and cowriter Morgan Land are content to bring subtle shadings to the tale of a strange man in a dirty business. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMay 1, 2013
Ultimately, this is a grim (both visually and thematically) character study of an unsympathetic character, leaving Shannon, who manages to deliver another impressive performance, twisting in the ice-cold wind. Read full review
60
EmpireGuy LodgeJun 3, 2013
This solemn, blood-soaked thriller lacks the dynamism of its star, but is an impressive showcase for him nonetheless: it’s as hard to look away from Shannon’s performance as it is to look directly at it. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMay 6, 2013
The problem might actually be (gasp) Michael Shannon himself — shocking, because he’s one of our greatest actors — who is only half-right for this film’s portrait of Kuklinski. Read full review
60
Village VoiceRebecca MossApr 30, 2013
Ultimately The Iceman is a blend of Mafia-film cliché and the jarring reality of lives undone by crime. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawApr 26, 2013
As a demonstration of the banality of evil, The Iceman is certainly effective and Shannon's performance gives the film its power. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubBen KenigsbergMay 1, 2013
Alternating scenes of the psycho-as-family-man with an increasingly grisly and desperate series of hits, it makes for a surprisingly monotonous sit for a movie that also features a killer named Mr. Freezy. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Adam NaymanMay 17, 2013
Michael Shannon is an overpowering actor, and in The Iceman, the best that he can do is wrestle the movie around him to a stalemate. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 16, 2013
Director/co-writer Ariel Vromen has made a grimly passable crime drama in the sub-“GoodFellas”/“Sopranos” vein, and if you’re looking for something to order up on a slow Saturday night, it’ll do. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickMay 2, 2013
The overall effect tends to be as chilly and monotonous as Shannon’s demeanor as Kuklinski — a real disappointment. Read full review
50
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonApr 30, 2013
It’s never a painful watch, more of a faintly dull, seen-it-all-before one. If nothing else, it’s evidence that these days, being based on a true story isn’t enough to elevate a film in a well-worn genre ahead of the pack. Read full review
45
Film.comLaremy LegelApr 26, 2013
Discordance, meet The Iceman, a film so wrong-footed it should take Eugene Levy out for a coffee. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyJun 7, 2013
There are cameos from James Franco, Stephen Dorff, a comically moustachioed David Schwimmer and an unrecognisably hirsute Chris Evans as various lowlifes. A pity, then, that nothing else in Ariel Vromen’s movie is remotely on Shannon’s level, from the plodding, Scorsese-clone script to the needlessly lifeless editing and cinematography. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleLouis BlackMay 15, 2013
There is an enormous amount of effort put into this film which at its end just seems like noise, wind, and dust. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMay 2, 2013
The great failing of The Iceman is not in giving us a monster, but in not making us care. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichApr 30, 2013
There’s a ruthlessly effective movie to be made from this material, and you couldn’t hope for a better performer than Shannon, who can turn on a dime between quiet malevolence and volcanic rage, to inhabit the sociopathic central figure. Unfortunately, this overproduced biopic constantly counteracts the actor’s committed efforts with its pale-imitation slickness. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineTomas HachardApr 29, 2013
Michael Shannon has no interior to play with, since the film seems intent on ridding Richie of any emotion other than love for his family, and also no catharsis to build toward. Read full review
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