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Quint has seen Michael Winterbottom's adaptation of Jim Thompson's THE KILLER INSIDE ME at Sundance 2010!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with another Sundance review for you. I only have about 10 more movies before I leave Park City, but I’m a little behind on my reviews, so I’ve taken some time out to write up some stuff.
The buzz on Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of Jim Thompson’s novel THE KILLER INSIDE ME has been mixed, to be kind. Word spread about a woman standing up at the Q&A of the premiere and chastising Winterbottom and the Sundance programmers for this film, which she called disgusting.
I’ve also heard mixed things from normal people, which, in all honesty, I wasn’t sure how to react to. I’m a fan of Winterbottom’s, but not obsessive. I saw his other Sundance film, the documentary based on Naomi Klein’s THE SHOCK DOCTRINE (which is really good… kind of like a less polarizing Michael Moore film) and who doesn’t like 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE? But I know how oddly people react to violence sometimes and I held out hope that people were just offended and turned themselves off to the movie.
This time my hope was well placed. THE KILLER INSIDE ME is dark, brutal and beyond fucked up, but it’s also fantastic filmmaking. From a technical standpoint I will argue anybody that says this is a bad film. Winterbottom and DP Marcel Zyskind bring a relaxed, rural beauty to this story of a small town sheriff (Casey Affleck) named Lou Ford who moonlights as a sociopath.
The pacing is deliberate, but not dull, the acting is fantastic from all involved, the cinematography is gorgeous, the editing is well done… It’s the story that will turn people off. When things go violent they go fuck violent. I watch some sick and twisted shit and this movie made me cringe with the sheer brutality of it.
But that’s a good thing, right? We’re not supposed to like violence, right? I’m not a PC hippie who will wag a finger at anyone who enjoys big dumb violent action flicks, don’t get me wrong, but I just don’t get the argument from these same people who call dumb violent films dangerous because they glorify brutality and then get all up in arms when a film portrays violence as something hurtful and ugly.
Affleck’s character is all kinds of messed up in the head, but on the surface he’s a calm, charming, polite public figure. Even when he dips into violent territory it hardly ever seems to come from a place of passion or rage. He never seems to drop his smile, which makes the violence at his hands even creepier.
That’s another thing. Lou Ford isn’t a slasher. He does his killing with his fists… bludgeoning his victims.
To make it even MORE creepy, his sexual kink is spanking and light hitting, something we learn comes from an almost incestuous relationship with his mother.
All that makes this movie sound like some kind of thriller and while it does get brutal and intense it really doesn’t feel like that. Winterbottom created a movie about weird, but layered characters. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to compare this movie to something like NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. I wouldn’t say KILLER is better or even on the same level as No Country, but it’s a similar universe.
There’s also something to the style of this picture, a ‘60s small town Texas noir? Yeah, that’s pretty damn close because while Lou Ford is a murdering bastard, you still are kind of on his side for some reason. It’s not that you’re wanting him to kill the people he does, but he’s just so normal and nice when he’s not that it almost feels like an attack on you when he strikes out. I mean, you like this dude… he’s soft spoken and kind… hell, even when he kills he seems to do it coldly, from a strictly logical (not emotional) place.
Both Jessica Alba (playing a prostitute that worships her abusive lover) and Kate Hudson (as Affleck’s fiancée) turn in fantastic performances, the former a career best (Hudson’s Penny Lane will always be my favorite, I think). Alba is like a puppy, unconditionally loving this guy. Their relationship begins with violence and ends with violence, but she never loses the adoration for this guy.
I don’t personally understand it, but I don’t understand the thought process of a woman that chooses to stay in an abusive relationship either.
The flick also features great turns by Bill Pullman (who literally enters the picture screaming like a madman), Elias Koteas (although his character just seems to drop away in the last third), Ned Beatty (so glad to see that dude again), young Liam Aiken as probably the sole innocent in the story, Brent Briscoe and Tom Bower.
I was really taken with this movie and can’t wait to see the great debate continue as more and more people see it.
PS I have not read Jim Thompson’s novel, but have spoken to people that have here at Sundance and they say the movie IS the book, which should appease Thompson’s die hards out there.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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Wish I was there. Have yet to experience a film festival. Hope to go to one next year and will watch anything I can. So jealous.
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Dammit x deux!
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I've heard good things, what say you?
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This sounds awesome. Casey Affleck is the man.
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and, to a lesser degree, so was French Stewart. That was really odd to type...
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This is one of the most fucked-up books you'll ever read. Thompson was a genius. If they captured the book, Quint's review is dead-on.
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Jan 28, 2010 8:08:48 PM CST
Do these film festivals have a zero tolerance rule for...
by soylentmean
flatulence? I mean if you're watching movie after movie and somebody stinks, well that's gonna affect one's enjoyment of those movies, now innit?
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If they have done a faithful adaptation of the novel than the film is bound to piss people off. The main character is a complete psychotic who enjoys hurting people and gets away with it for a long time. The book is told from the killer's perspective as he describes his compulsion to kill and hurt people. If Winterbottom has done the film right it will be one of the darkest neo-noirs ever made.
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Movie looks atrociously, bafflingly hideous.
Love the cast, in theory.... But rarely have I seen footage from a film that seems to have so badly fumbled the tone of a novel. -
...Fucking love JIM THOMPSON...Some dude nice dude got murdered in FARGO a few months ago...FOR like 3000...in FARGO I know...I'm suprised HOLLYWOOD wasn't jumping all over JIM THOMPSON'S books after NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN...
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I live in OKC and they shot a few weeks in the area. How good was the FX work in turning 2009 OKC into post-WW II Texas?
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I saw a trailer for this but didn't know what to make of it at the time. Who doesn't wanna see a movie where Jessica Alba likes getting abused?
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A top 10 favorite of mine, so I certainly hope they did a decent adaption. Sounds about right so far!
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and it said "see someone else".
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Loved the book, love the cast, except Alba....but if she's good enough for Winterbottom, she's good enoug for me. And from his previous films, I am pretty confident it won't be sugarcoated. Can't wait!
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I am chiming in
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Show them how it's supposed to be done.
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Fucking enter button!!!! Anyway, it's by MC 900 Ft Jesus, and it's a great song about the novel. I too love the book, and I figured fellow fans would be interested in the aural glory of the tune. I sure hope they get this right on film
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It's not necessarily about how it's portrayed--as a good thing or bad thing. It's that it's turned into a form of entertainment. Even if it's some kind of dark, thoughtful piece ruminating on the effects of violence, it's still entertainment.Whether that's ultimately a good thing is a perfectly valid question. I'm not passing any judgment on this or any other film here, but to say that the case is closed on the implications of violence in entertainment would be wrong.
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Jan 28, 2010 11:21:38 PM CST
Winterbottom also did a hardcore movie with full on penetration
by redmond
I'm sure showing a guy pulverizing a woman's face into liquid with his fists isn't much of a stretch.
And yes, Winterbottom is one of the more interesting and unique filmmakers working out there. Looking forward to this. -
what kind of movie your getting into from the title alone.tarantino said that violence is the most cinematic you can put on film.this still looks worth seeing.why does remind me of a david lynch movie?
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as are most Jim Thompson's novels. Can't wait to see this. Glad to hear it's lookin good.
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SPOILER ALERT -
ok make it like 25-50 punches, with close ups of the sickening results. And i havent even mentioned the punches to the stomach...or what does or doesnt happen to Kate H. Seriously, the violence in this film made a majority of the audience at the sundance premiere, myself included, sick to our stomachs. Aint it cool...no! There was much to admire about this film, which Quint duly noted, but seriously for this film to have any chance of making more than $5, the violence needs to be drastically trimmed. Believe me the film will still have impact, and perhaps more so because for many the violence took them out of the film. I'll be interested to see when/if this film makes it to theaters. Oh and for those who cares (like i really need to condition this), the sex scenes with Alba & Hudson (no, not together, sorry) are erotic and somewhat graphic but there really is minimal nudity. -
And what's my kind of movie? A damn good one. Michael Winterbottom is one of the most talented director working today, apt in all kinds of genres. And his movie TRISTAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY is sadly underrated and little known.
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It's nice to hear that the movie IS the book, but what I want to know is how it holds up against Burt Kennedy's 1976 version with Stacy Keach?
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Did you guys know she walked out of the premiere of this...HER OWN MOVIE. Who does that? How could you not know in some respect how it would turn out after reading the script and acting in the damn movie. Plus she is WAY overrated in the hotness department (especially since having a kid but really in general.) Oh and of course she cannot act for shit. /rant
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...a month ago and this new one sounds better. Keach conveyed the looney but didn't do a great job showing the charm side. The extreme duality of those two personas is what shocks in the book.
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I read for this film for 3 lines as a townsperson; didn't get the call. Then, was looked at as a stand-in for Beatty, but was a little too tall and 20 pounds too light, or so my agent told me. Finally ended up standing around for 2 days in the extra pool of "random townspeople", but wasn't used. So regardless of how "bad" or good the movie is, I'm seeing it. Had a similar thing happen in 1977 when the Henry Winkler/Sally Field film "Heroes" was being filmed. A friend and I were filmed for a scene that never made it out of edit. *SIGH* Understand that acting is not how I make a living...I'd have starved to death long ago. Just a hobby for fun, I guess. Still, would have liked to have been in this movie because I knew it'd be fucked up.
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in MR. DESTINY. seems to have worked out for the best...
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