The Killer Inside Me

Jeri Jacquin, Movie Maven

Opening in theatres from director Michael Winterbottom and IFC Films is a riveting look at the slow road to madness with “The Killer Inside Me”.

This film tells the story of Lou Ford (Casey Affleck), a small town deputy with woman problems. First there is his girlfriend Amy Stanton (Kate Hudson) who wants a commitment, there are jurisdiction problems that bring about his affair with Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba) and there are murders happening all around him.

He also has problems with the town and that’s mainly because Lou is turning out to be one charming psychotic individual and running out of alibis. It doesn’t take long before other law enforcement agencies start sniffing around as Joe Rothman (Elias Koteas) and Howard Hendricks (Simon Baker) play cat and mouse with Ford.

Just when Ford thinks he has things under control and plans a normal future, it all comes to a breaking point as the pot boils over!

FINAL WORD: Affleck is mind bending in his role as Ford. From out of nowhere he takes us on a journey we really don’t want to go on. He is cool as a cucumber and commits offenses without batting an eye. While everyone around seems out of control, Affleck’s character isn’t.

Koteas and Baker were the yin and yang of the investigators. Relentless and almost as cool as Affleck’s character, it is a descent chase to the finish. It was nice to see Bill Pullman play a small role as a snake oil salesman of a lawyer.

Alba is descent as the prostitute Lakeland and, without giving anything away; she does a good job of being bad. Hudson was fine in her role as Stanton, nothing earth shattering though.

The cast also includes: Ned Beatty as Chester Conway, Tom Bower as Sheriff Bob Maples, Brent Biscoe as the Vagrant, Matthew Maher as Deputy Jeff Plummer, Liam Aiken as Johnnie Pappas, and Bill Pullman as Billy Boy Walker.

This film is based on a 1952 novel by writer Jim Thompson. It was written into a script by Michael Winterbottom. This film has nominated by the Berlin International Film Festival in 2010. It also received recognition from the Sundance Film Festival and Tribeca.

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give “Killer Inside Me” three and a half tubs of popcorn out of five. This film is very raw without the dazzle of special effects or stupid glasses to keep the viewer away from every bit of film watching.

Be aware also that this film is very violent and rough in some areas. It is not a fast paced film but that might be a good thing as scene for scene drops the jaw and boggles the mind. There are moments where the viewer is shown the worst a human being can be.

The viewer is taken into the dark heart of a killer who is blunt in his dealings with no apology ever given – know that before seeing the film.

In the end – small towns aren’t always what they seem.