Review of The Killer Inside Me (2010) by John J — 20 Oct 2010

Based on the book by Jim Thompson. A Texas police sheriff (Casey Affleck) in the early 1950's has a dark side that he hides very well. Or at least he thinks.

"He was such a nice guy" is usually the words we hear about serial killers and people that snap and go off the deep end. It could be the person living next to you. And you'd never know it until the evidence points it out. In the 1950's investigators didn't use the technology available today. Everything was a giant puzzle and it takes creative minds to sometimes put them together. On the outside Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is a likable guy. He is calm and collected when speaking to anyone. But he has a dark side that we see as he beats a prostitute (played by Jessica Alba) to death with his own fists. He cleans up the crime scene, has all of his puzzle pieces scattered and allows them to point at someone else.

As you watch this film unfold you can't help but to think it's only a matter of time before he gets caught. And how many more people will suffer between now and then? How are they even going to know it's him? What kind of people in the 50's would even accuse a sheriff of committing such crimes. It has some very graphic scenes that even made me cringe. I couldn't tell if I was in more shock by what was happening or the fact that Lou's face was emotionless the entire time.

This film has a wonderful cast that also includes Kate Hudson, Ned Beatty and Bull Pullman. But Casey Affleck carries the weight of this film on his shoulders. I praised his performance as Robert Ford in The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford" and I predicted he would receive a Oscar nomination for it.

Affleck has just pulled off his 2nd best performance in The Killer Inside Me and this time I'm hoping he can earn himself a Best Actor nomination. Casey's confidence he puts into this film bleeds right through the screen and into the room. Not many people are happy with the recent news about his documentary (I'm still here) but you can't let that bad news discredit him as a great actor. He might not be an A-list actor right now but if he keeps up performances like this he will. I can't name off many actors at this moment that are going to challenge for Best Actor nor can I even think of anyone that's a 100% lock for a nomination. But as of right now Casey Affleck should be at the top of the list.

I give The Killer Inside Me...... 4 Stars.