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Kate Hudson, Casey Affleck star in The Killer Inside Me -
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The Killer Inside Me
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Simon Baker
Director: Michael Winterbottom
A difficult watch to say the least, The Killer Inside Me (from
acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom) is an adaptation of a Jim
Thompson book about a sociopathic sheriff in 1950s Texas.
Casey Affleck plays said Sheriff Ford, who finds himself entangled
in blackmail and extortion - as well as a torrid affair with
prostitute Joyce (Jessica Alba) - and when things come to a head,
boy, oh boy do they explode, as Ford discovers he's heading in
deeper and deeper.
Things get worse for Sheriff Ford when
The Mentalist's Simon Baker's
character Howard
Hendricks starts to investigate him (using very similar techniques
to Patrick Jane as well) - and Ford finds he's in a real
predicament.
This film, despite its slick 50s look and polished performances, is
going to be steeped in controversy because of its violence- well,
specifically its violence against the two women in Ford's life
(both played wonderfully by Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson), which is
shocking in the extreme.
While Affleck's performance is chilling and spot-on for a complete
psychopath, it's a hard ask to watch a man who's meted out such
violence as he has - audiences may find themselves split down the
middle on this flick which has echoes of American Psycho (but none
of the humour).
It's a shame because the film noir look works wonderfully and is
evocative of '50s America and its seedy underbelly that breaks out
from under the quiet veneer.
But The Killer Inside Me will polarise people because of its
shocking violence, which actually leaves you numb and has led to
accusations of the director being a misogynist, as the only
violence towards men happens off screen, as opposed to the full
glare of the women's demise.
It's gritty, dark, visceral, uncompromising
and divisive cinema - so you have been warned.
