The Killer Inside Me by Michael Winterbottom – review

Let’s get one thing out of the way first. I haven’t read the Jim Thompson novel, so it’s impossible for me to compare how faithful to the original this movie is. I have read a few Thompson novels, I am familiar with his tone, but it was the whole point of seeing the movie with fresh eyes. Judging it for what it is, so that it doesn’t have to live up to anything. Well, maybe only live up to Jim Thompson’s imaginary, really.

For those who are unfamiliar with this adaptation, director Michael Winterbottom, director of 24 Hours Party People and A Mighty Heart (that movie about Daniel Pearl’s wife, starring Angelina Jolie) decided to tackle one of Jim Thompson’s most celebrated novels with a stellar cast of actors, counting Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, the great Elias Koteas and Bill Pullman.

The result?

A strong movie. Not perfect by any means, but a movie that will leave you with vivid memories of your viewing experience. Those who are familiar with Jim Thompson probably know the story (I knew it before watching the film). Lou Ford is a sheriff in a boring little Texas town. That’s what he would like you to believe anyway. Under his boring facade, he’s a psychopath with sadistic sexual tendencies.

When he was a kid, his adoptive brother Mike took the fall for a crime he committed (that involved sexual abuse), but as he was released from prison, Mike died suddenly on a construction site. Lou always kept grudge to the owner of the company for that, thinking Mike was murdered, but he kept it to himself, waiting for the right time to strike back. When the opportunity to work for the construction company owner showed up, Lou accepts to go blackmail a prostitute into leaving town for him. But it doesn’t go as planned and Lou will have to balance his attraction to her, his desire for vengeance and his primitive urges to try and achieve what he had planned.

There’s a lot of marrow on the bone here. First of all, the cast. It might just be this film’s greatest asset. Casey Affleck might be a little baby faced to play Lou Ford, but he radiates coldness and pent up anger. The guy has a knack for playing crime fiction characters. While he has very distinctive facial feature and a well-known family name, the Lou Ford of this movie was radically different from the Patrick Kenzie he played in Gone Baby Gone (directed by his brother Ben). The way he stands, the look in his eyes, everything about him is different. Casey Affleck is an actor that cares about small details. He doesn’t take anything for granted.

Many other actors in this movie are worth mentioning. Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba left their trademark sex appeal on the side and embraced their part completely. Alba, as prostitute Joyce Lakeland showed she can be more than just a beautiful vision. She’s complementing Casey Affleck’s game very well. Elias Koteas is also great. Well, he’s always great. He plays smart guy and union organized Joe Rothman to perfection with a natural swagger. He was a perfect choice for that role.

As far as the direction goes, you can feel the influence of the Coen brothers’ No Country For Old Men. They set the tone in how to film noir in the twenty-first century. While Michael Winterbottom didn’t transform the novel in a sprawling epic like the Coens did, he wasn’t lazy either. Visually speaking, it’s a lot brighter than the Cormac McCarthy adaptation. It’s always sunny outside and you have freshly painted buildings, green lawns, signs of pride homeowners, which is a very common thing in small towns and makes an interesting visual clash with the darkness that trails behind Lou’s footsteps.

A quick word for the very creative use of sound and music, which was one of the high points of the movie for me. There’s a lot of silences where there should be a soundtrack in typical Hollywood productions and characters singing where there should be a licensed song playing. It reinforces the small town feeling and the whole claustrophobic vibe that surrounds Lou. It’s a very nice, subtle touch that makes a lot of difference. It sets a unique atmosphere to the movie.

Do I have anything bad to say about it? Not much. A few things bugged me. Whenever special effects were employed, it was a complete disaster. The movie probably didn’t have a big budget and it showed. There’s only one scene where there’s a spectacular use of special effects and it should be a beautiful scene, but the CGI makes it laughable instead. Otherwise, those who have read the novel know how gory it could be (I had this question a lot: “Is it AS gory”), well the movie is every bit as gory and descriptive. Most of the murders happen on screen, no matter how violent they are. You are not spared anything. I’m usually good around violence, but one or two scenes made me gasp. Consider yourself warned.

The Killer Inside Me is an honest movie. Michael Winterbottom is not one of those visionary, artistic-minded directors who wants to destroy the boundaries of cinema every time he steps on a movie set. He is preoccupied with telling a story the best way he can and I respect that. The Killer Inside Me is a quiet and disturbing movie that traps you in the mind of a psychopath. It’s also very true to the tone of Jim Thompson’s novels. It’s dark, even in the middle of the day and it has this unreachable narrator. A fun viewing.

PROS

Spectacular cast delivers spectacular performances.

Great use of sound and music.

Faithful to Thompson’s imaginary.

CONS

Cringe inducing murder scenes.

Bad CGI.

SCORE: 82%

Benoit Lelievre

Benoit Lelievre lives in Montreal, Canada. He writes both fiction and non-fiction. His stories have been published in magazines like Shotgun Honey and Pulp Metal, as well as in a few anthologies. He blogs out of Dead End Follies, which he likes to call his headquarters. He sure loves to share his thoughts with the internet, so he reviews movies for Spintingler once every week.

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