“The Killer Inside Me” is definitely not for the sensitive. Reportedly, its graphic violence caused some controversy even among the sophisticated indie audience at the Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered earlier this year.
If you go
“The Killer Inside Me”
3 out of 5 stars
Stars: Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Ned Beatty
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Rated R for disturbing brutal violence, aberrant sexual content and some graphic nudity.
Running time: 108 minutes
The camera never flinches from the ugly thud and the disfiguring consequences of the repeated punches that cut down victims. And, inconceivably, it implies that its masochistic female victims desire even fatal abuse. Meanwhile, it offers no message and makes no socially redeeming observation as it clutches your attention. But the nervy, gripping lead performance by Casey Affleck is a revelation. His impacting film noir penetrates the thoughts and rationalizations of the unlikely serial murderer he plays. It also comes from an important source and with technical filmmaking artistry.
Opening in limited theatrical release locally Friday and available through some video-on-demand systems, “The Killer Inside Me” is based on the notoriously tough crime novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. The respected 20th century pulp fiction author also wrote the book “The Grifters” and the screenplay of Stanley Kubrick’s seminal “Paths of Glory.” Quirky director Michael Winterbottom — most recently behind the superb “A Mighty Heart,” about murdered journalist Daniel Pearl — works from John Curran’s adapted script.
While the violence in today’s thriller is shocking, the most disturbing thing is the nature of Affleck’s anti-hero: Lou Ford, the sweet-looking deputy sheriff of his tiny west Texas hometown. He seems at first like a Dudley Do-Right … just up until the scene where he uses his belt to viciously whip a belligerent prostitute, the would-be femme fatale played with nuance and pathos by the previously less dynamic Jessica Alba.
Lou’s sadism will soon escalate in a mix involving a powerful local family, extortion, misplaced trust, revenge, sexual perversion and lots of death. It’s best not to reveal the twists, other than to say that an impossibly wild climax violates the realistic mood that has been building steadily until then.
The principal cast, also including a vulnerable Kate Hudson as Lou’s doomed fiancee, deserves kudos for risk taking and stretching to try material like this. Affleck and Alba, in particular, do career-defining work.
Seasoned support by Ned Beatty, Elias Koteas, Simon Baker and Bill Pullman contribute to the grit in a piece about the banal face of evil. “The Killer Inside Me” isn’t essential. But amid Hollywood’s summer rubbish, it is refreshing to see character intensity as the only special effect necessary.
