The Killer Inside Me (2010)

Great Film overall

Fantastic!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The Killer Inside Me is a rather unpleasant film that never decides what it is trying to do. The story of a 1950's west Texas sheriff harboring a dark secret, the film is a well-appointed yet hollow period piece that confounds and disgusts rather than provokes and inspires.Casey Affleck turns in a reliably intense and committed performance as the sociopathic sheriff, but he is unable to overcome the haphazard characterization, poorly-written women, and wavering tone that plagues the rest of the film. Winterbottom never truly settles on how to tell the story, with moments of suspense and dread giving way to what one might call whimsy in a matter of seconds. The events of the end of the film retroactively draw into the question the decision-making and competence of all of the characters around Affleck, and leave the viewer frustrated. The absolute gutter-level CGI does the film no favors either.Featuring some of the most graphic on-screen beatings I've ever seen in a film (no, I haven't seen Irréversible), this 2010 film might be the one that comes back to haunt 2017 Casey Affleck more than any other. It certainly looks like a poor choice in roles considering the accusations levied against him that were highly publicized during his run toward an Academy Award win this past year.The film certainly deserves the criticism it received upon release for the gratuitous violence inflicted upon the women in the film, who seem to exist solely to receive this pain. We are left to wonder what kind of story could have been told with a more thoughtful script and more subtle hand behind the camera.

On the surface, Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is a nice 29 year old sheriff's deputy in a Texas oil boom town Central City in the 1950s. He harasses a prostitute named Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba) and shows his sadistic side. He becomes obsessed with her. She wants to shakedown Elmer Conway (Jay R. Ferguson), the son of Chester (Ned Beatty) who built half of Central City. Chester gives him $10k to run her out of town. Lou has a different idea. Howard Hendricks (Simon Baker) investigates and seems suspicious of Lou. Lou had a foster brother named Mike who was killed 6 years ago working at a Conway construction. Young Mike and Lou had been involved in a murky incident with a young girl back in the day. Amy Stanton (Kate Stanton) is his girlfriend. Joe Rothman (Elias Koteas) is the union boss.This is a murky moody film noir from director Michael Winterbottom. I really like the style. It is a bit too confused. I think more on the story of young Lou would be helpful early on. Casey Affleck has the boyish looks which make his quiet psychopath character all the more effective. There are a lot of pieces and characters in this movie. It could be a little bit complicated to put the pieces together.

This is a completely misogynistic film; it involves countless acts of violence against women. On top of that, it condones domestic abuse because the female characters are shown liking that abuse."Art" and "freedom of speech" cannot be used as excuses to celebrate messages of hatred. It's not 'just a movie'; media has an affect on individuals and society as a whole. To depict acts of violence without outright condemning the abuse is completely irresponsible writing and directing.I've seen a lot of sexist and misogynistic films but this one is on top of the pile.

Not surprising this piece of crap could only recoup less than ten percent of its cost... what is surprising is that it's on IMDBs Top 5000 list Casey Affleck, who is about the same height as Matt Roloff and twenty pounds lighter, and regardless of his successful brother, is both banal as an actor and unconvincing as a Texas sheriff in this celluloid rubbish. Why any actor worth their salt would sign up for this, beggars belief. Not too mention the social can of worms this garbage opens. People keep reminding me it's a seriously intentioned film that addresses male-hate and male violence in the form of a nightmare. How so? What purpose does this film serve? Highlights violence against women? That's pretty clear, but I can read about that everyday in the Washington Post. Depicting graphic violence against women sells tickets? Didn't work in this case. Perhaps if it had been Casey that was getting his face punched to pulp? I might pay to see that. Regarding the director, Winterbottom, he's about as knock-off as they come; an auteur wannabee who can't make up his mind who he wants to steal from - Kiewslowski, Roeg, Antonionii, Kubrick, and so on. So here's his hat tip to Noe and Haneke. Shame he can't hold a candle. A low-rent 'Blood Simple,' without the story, dialogue (although Casey believes he's Emmett Walsh) acting or direction. Thankfully, based on its numbers, not many people actually saw this forgettable film.