Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is a pillar of the community in his small west Texas town, patient and apparently thoughtful. Some people think he is a little slow and maybe boring, but that he is nevertheless ordinary and dependable. Nobody knows about what Lou calls his "sickness": He is a violent sociopath with a taste for rape and murder. It nearly got him put away when he was younger, but his adopted brother took the fall for his crimes. But now the sickness that has been lying dormant for years is about to surface again and the consequences are brutal and devastating...
The story of The Killer Inside Me is actually pretty damn interesting. The film is delightfully nasty and brutal with one scene where Lou beats up a prostitute clearly standing out. Is it gratuitous? Some will probably think so, I disagree. Sometimes you do have to shock people to get your point across. Would the viewer truly comprehend how vicious Lou's acts were if we were shown a glorified death scene where the someone gets killed but there's little to no blood and the dead guy looks great? No, of course not. It's not the case with every film but in this one, graphic violence is an important device that serves the story.
The acting was pretty great, specially Casey Affleck. His performances are always subtle but at the same time extremely powerful. I was reminded of his great work in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ". I wouldn't be surprised if he gets nominated for an Oscar. Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson and the rest of the cast, all did a good job. The production values are great and the film was beautifully shot.
Why only 6.5 ? Because there's too many inconsistencies in the story, too many things remained unexplained and some scenes, specially towards the end, leave the viewer completely puzzled. Apparently, a lot of things that were in the book were omitted in the film and the result was a very interesting but incoherent story. In conclusion, it's a nice watch but The Killer Inside Me could have been a tremendous film.
6.5/10
The story of The Killer Inside Me is actually pretty damn interesting. The film is delightfully nasty and brutal with one scene where Lou beats up a prostitute clearly standing out. Is it gratuitous? Some will probably think so, I disagree. Sometimes you do have to shock people to get your point across. Would the viewer truly comprehend how vicious Lou's acts were if we were shown a glorified death scene where the someone gets killed but there's little to no blood and the dead guy looks great? No, of course not. It's not the case with every film but in this one, graphic violence is an important device that serves the story.
The acting was pretty great, specially Casey Affleck. His performances are always subtle but at the same time extremely powerful. I was reminded of his great work in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ". I wouldn't be surprised if he gets nominated for an Oscar. Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson and the rest of the cast, all did a good job. The production values are great and the film was beautifully shot.
Why only 6.5 ? Because there's too many inconsistencies in the story, too many things remained unexplained and some scenes, specially towards the end, leave the viewer completely puzzled. Apparently, a lot of things that were in the book were omitted in the film and the result was a very interesting but incoherent story. In conclusion, it's a nice watch but The Killer Inside Me could have been a tremendous film.
6.5/10