The H-Bomb: Lou Ford (Casey Affleck), is a young, friendly deputy sheriff living in a small west Texas town in the 1950’s. He’s lived there his whole life and is known and well liked by pretty much everyone in town, including his boss, Sheriff Bob Maples (Tom Bower), and his pretty, respectable girlfriend Amy (Kate Hudson). He’s quiet, laid back, and doesn’t even carry a gun.
One day, Lou is sent out to the home of a local prostitute, Joyce (Jessica Alba), who’s been trying to extort money from the son of a local big shot (Ned Beatty). Lou’s job is simply to talk to Joyce and encourage her to leave town, but mere moments after meeting her, he does something that suggests that he’s not the affable fellow that the town seems to think he is. In fact, there are a few things about Deputy Lou that the simple townsfolk don’t know about: he’s a sadist, and even worse… he’s a psychopath. A psychopath of the homicidal variety.
He’s been damaged goods ever since he was a child, and after committing a double murder, he falls under the suspicion of a District Attorney (Simon Baker), who’s sharp, observant, and doesn’t quite buy into Lou’s “awe shucks” façade. But when the one potential witness to the crime dies, Lou figures he‘s off the hook. Sadly, for him, that’s not the case, as Lou is forced to deceive and even kill some more, digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole that he may not be able to climb out of… and as if that wasn‘t enough, a blackmailer has appeared out of the woodwork to shake Lou down.
As I sat here thinking about how I would approach reviewing this film, I asked myself the question, who would I recommend this to? The answer is… I don‘t know. “The Killer Inside Me”, adapted from the novel by legendary pulp author Jim Thompson, is Film Noir at its blackest and bleakest, without the restrictions of the Hays Code. It’s dark, depressing, brutally violent, with much of the violence being misogynistic and sexual in nature (feminists should steer clear). It makes “No Country For Old Men” look like a cheerful romp by comparison.
If you do take a chance on this one, then understand that the whole notion of Film Noir is to show the ugly side of humanity. Showing people doing things that society would consider amoral at best and downright evil at worst. The ugly acts perpetrated by the characters of the genre are usually brought on by either desperation, greed, or madness.
Sometimes the characters are generally good people driven to take extreme actions, other times, they’re just sick and rotten to the core. The protagonist of “The Killer Inside Me” is definitely the latter. Or, at least he’s partially sick and rotten, as there is a conflict inside of him. On one hand, Lou believes in the law, believes in his job, and genuinely wants to do good. On the other, he has this monster living within him that he doesn’t understand and can’t control.
To level with you fine readers of iRATE, this is a film that will likely divide audiences. One camp will admire its audacity and unflinching depiction of the sordid subject matter (as I did, to a point). Another camp will be disgusted and flat out fucking hate it, most likely due to the film’s surprising misogynistic streak. There’s a very unsettling scene about a half hour in where a character is viciously beaten to death that even made my desensitized stomach turn. And if that’s not enough, there’s another scene involving child molestation that could very well put it over the top for a lot of people.
Then there’s yet a third camp who just won’t know what the hell to make of it, because while they may find it intriguing enough, its constant series of unfortunate events that only lead to even more unfortunate events might not be most people’s idea of entertainment. The film also has a rather large cast of characters with side stories that often interconnect with each other, and if you’re not paying close attention throughout, odds are you might miss some important information.
Another liability the film will have with some is the fact that it’s told entirely from the point of view of this polite lunatic, and while Affleck is terrific in the role, it kind of leaves us the viewers without anyone to really root for or relate to. This wasn’t a problem for me personally, since I relate to lunatics of all varieties, but it will likely prevent many from becoming invested in the characters or the story.
The film’s major asset, aside from stylish direction and a strong sense of atmosphere and mood, is its cast. It’s an impressive ensemble of actors who pop up in various roles. Aside from the ones already mentioned, we also get a solid turn from under-rated Canadian actor Elias Koteas (as a local union rep) and a colorful cameo from Bill Pullman as a lawyer.
Jessica Alba usually grates my nerves, but I actually didn’t mind her here, partially because her screen time is thankfully limited. In fact, most of the supporting roles are pretty small fry, as this really is Casey Affleck’s show. He channels that same subdued creepiness he brought to “The Assassination of Jesse James By the Movie with the Ridiculously Long Title”, and his performance is just chilling. His sudden switches from nice boy next door to cold blooded killer are truly unnerving.
It’s Affleck’s scary performance that makes me recommend this one cautiously. But keep in mind, it’s a movie in which bad things happen to good and bad people alike, and it doesn’t end well for any of the characters involved. This is definitely not a date movie.
