Michael Shannon is a great actor but his performance does not even come close to the real Richard Kuklinski, who had a multi-layered personality, being both incredibly sadistic and quite chaming in the same time. You could really see the difference if you compare the monologue in the movie with the interviews in the HBO documentaries.
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The real guy was just as deadpan and passionless as Shannon's portrayal. He was just like the guy. There was no difference in the monologues. That's what was so chilling about them.
Real killers are rarely charismatic. They don't spend their lives trying to win people over with their wit ans charisma, they kill to solve problems and kill for a living. They don't have time for one liners and words of wisdom. See more documentaries and pay attention to how they really talk.
The movie was pretty basic, but one of the things I liked about it was that the people talked like real people. Nothing fancy, nothing over the top. Just like real life scumbags.
Everything you described is the exact opposite of Kuklinsiki. If you watch the HBO documentaries he even admitted to coming across as too much of a nice, personable guy. He then verified he used that charm and nice guy image to lure people into a sense of security. If you look up antisocial disorder you will see that one of the characteristics of the afflicted is that they are very personable and disarmingly charming. They are very competent at manipulating feelings and are good at flattery.
Shannon came across more like sling blade than Kuklinski.
I felt Michael Shannon did an excellent job as Richard Kuklinski. When he had a gun pointed to his head his emotions still had that cold empty look, especially in his eyes. I just wanted more of the family dynamics like how they did in Goodfellas, but overrall it was a decent movie. 7/10
Look at the night sky, where does it end?
Shannon was amazing in his role. The most ruthless, cold-blooded assassin I have ever seen in the movie history... Amazing performance...
shareThot Michael Shannon was great in this. Have to agree with another poster, when DeMeo pointed the gun at his face early on in the movie, he didn't flinch, nothing....cold, man, just cold. Great acting.
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