The Killer Inside Me (2010 film)
Encyclopedia
The Killer Inside Me is a 2010 American film adaptation
of the 1952 novel of the same name
by Jim Thompson
. The film is directed by Michael Winterbottom
and stars Casey Affleck
, Kate Hudson
, and Jessica Alba
. At its release, it was criticised for its graphic depiction of violence directed toward women. The violence has colored most critical reviews of the film ever since.
) is a pillar of the community in his small west Texas
town, patient, dependable, and well-liked. Beneath his pleasant facade, however, he is a sociopath
with violent sexual tastes. As a teenager, Lou was caught raping
a five-year-old girl by Mike, his older step-brother. Mike pleaded guilty to the crime and served prison time to protect Lou. After being released, Mike was hired by the construction firm of Chester Conway (Ned Beatty
). One day on the job, Mike had a fatal accident. Lou believes that Conway planned the accident.
At the prodding of Sheriff Bob Maples (Tom Bower
), Lou visits Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba
), a prostitute who is having an affair with Conway's son, Elmer (Jay R. Ferguson
). When Joyce objects to Lou's treatment of her and slaps him, he throws her on the bed and uses his belt buckle for a spanking until her buttocks are bruised and bleeding. Joyce enjoys pain, and she and Lou begin a passionate love affair.
Joyce suggests that Lou would never leave town with her, but they devise a plot to extort $10,000 from the Conways. Sheriff Maples and Chester Conway ask Lou to oversee the payoff. Lou has another plan: He viciously beats Joyce, intending to kill her. When Elmer arrives, Lou shoots and kills him. He then plants the gun on Joyce, hoping to make the scene look like a murder/suicide. Joyce survives, however, and Conway announces his intention to see her executed for killing Elmer.
Lou's reputation begins to falter: His longtime girlfriend, Amy (Kate Hudson
), suspects he is cheating on her, and the county district attorney, Howard Hendricks (Simon Baker
), suspects that Lou could be behind the murders. Lou is asked to join Sheriff Maples and Conway in taking Joyce to a hospital in Fort Worth where doctors can operate on her; Conway wants her alive so he can interrogate her as soon as possible. Lou waits in a hotel room while the surgery takes place. A shaken Maples arrives to tell him that Joyce died on the operating table. Lou and Maples return to west Texas by train.
While browsing his father's books at home, Lou discovers some nude photographs of a woman that were hidden in a Bible. The woman was Helene, a housekeeper and babysitter in his youth who bears a strong resemblance to Joyce. Lou recalls that Helene introduced him to sadomasochism, urging him to strike her and proclaiming that she loved pain. Lou burns the photos.
Hendricks arrests a local youth, Johnnie Pappas (Liam Aiken
), as a suspect in the murders of Elmer and Joyce. He was found with one of the $20 bills Elmer was to give Joyce in the payoff; Conway had the bills marked in order to blackmail Joyce if she didn't leave town. Because Lou is close to Johnnie, Hendricks asks Lou to persuade him to confess. But it was Lou who had given Johnnie the marked $20 bill after taking it from Elmer. Lou confesses to Johnnie, who promises to protect him. Lou hangs Johnnie, making it look like a suicide
.
Johnnie's death only makes the town more suspicious of Lou. Journalist and union organizer Joe Rothman (Elias Koteas
) implies that he knows Lou killed Elmer and Joyce and suggests Lou leave town. Amy persuades him to elope and acquiesces to his desire to spank her roughly in bed. At first Lou is satisfied, but his homicidal urges begin to resurface and he contemplates killing Amy.
An alcoholic bum whom Lou had previously brutalized (Brent Briscoe
) says he knows Lou committed the murders and expects $5,000 to keep quiet. Lou asks him to come back in two weeks, when he and Amy plan to elope. That day, Lou beats Amy to death, then chases the bum down the street, accusing him of the crime. The bum is killed by another deputy, Jeff Plummer (Matthew Maher
).
The next morning, Plummer appears on Lou's porch to tell him that Maples committed suicide, heartbroken over Lou's crimes. Hendricks and Plummer try to get a confession from Lou, who cockily refuses. They have a letter that Amy intended to give him before they eloped, in which Amy begs him to come clean. Lou is arrested and sent to an insane asylum.
After a few weeks, a slick lawyer, Billy Boy Walker (Bill Pullman
), has him released and drives him home. Knowing that the authorities probably have evidence against him — and that the evidence could only be Joyce, who did not die after all — Lou begins to plot his own death.
Joyce, now able to walk but still bearing the scars of that brutal night, is brought to Lou's house. She tells Lou that she refused to cooperate with the authorities because she loves him. Lou says he loves her, too — and then stabs her. Plummer opens fire, igniting the gasoline and alcohol Lou has spread around the house and causing an explosion that kills everyone inside.
around 1956, with Monroe starring as Joyce Lakeland. Marlon Brando
was attached to star as Lou Ford. Elizabeth Taylor
was considered at the time for the role of Amy Stanton. After Monroe's unexpected death on August 5, 1962, the project was shelved. A film adaptation
was eventually made in 1976, with Stacy Keach
as Lou Ford and Susan Tyrell as Joyce Lakeland.
In the mid-1980s, there was another attempt to adapt the book into a film, with Tom Cruise
as Lou Ford, Brooke Shields
as Amy Stanton, and Demi Moore
as Joyce Lakeland. The project was shelved. In the mid-1990s, after the success of Pulp Fiction
, Quentin Tarantino
was attached to direct the project. Uma Thurman
was set to star as Amy Stanton. Juliette Lewis
was considered for the part of Joyce Lakeland and Brad Pitt
was attached to star as Lou Ford. This effort fell through after the September 11 attacks, because the film script was deemed too violent. Tarantino scrapped everything and started from scratch. In 2003, Andrew Dominik
wrote a highly stylized screenplay, and was at one point to direct it. He hoped the film would star Leonardo DiCaprio
as Lou Ford, Charlize Theron
as Amy Stanton and Drew Barrymore
as Joyce Lakeland. Dominik lost interest in doing a film adaptation of a 1950s novel, however, and instead chose to film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
. Marc Rocco
stepped in, and wanted to cast Casey Affleck as Lou Ford, Reese Witherspoon
as Amy Stanton and Maggie Gyllenhaal
as Joyce Lakeland.
. In January 2010, IFC Films
saved the rights of the film for around $
1.5 million and announced the theatrical and VOD
platforms release on June 9, 2010. It was nominated for the Golden Bear
at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival
. It is part of the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
and ran on April 27, 2010. The film had a limited theatrical release starting on June 18, 2010. It was released as a Blockbuster Exclusive DVD and Blu-Ray rental on August 24th, 2010; the official DVD and Blu-Ray were released on September 28, 2010.
reports that 55% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 97 reviews, with an average score of 5.6/10. The critical consensus is: "The Killer Inside Me is stylish and beautifully shot, but Michael Winterbottom's distance from his characters robs this often brutally violent film of crucial emotional context."
Winterbottom, attending the film's world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival
, got an audience member's review before the credits had finished rolling: "I don't understand how Sundance could book this movie! How dare you? How dare Sundance?" Rachel Cooke of The Observer
, after describing a "sickeningly protracted" scene from the film in which Joyce is beaten by Lou, said "I was so queasy, I had to go and stand outside. I thought I might actually faint"; she notes that several of the scenes of violence are "so long and so horribly graphic" and points out that "by lingering only over the violence done to women — by contrast, a male character gets to die off camera — he has, I think, ruined his own picture, drawing the audience's attention away both from its exquisite noir
mood, and from Affleck's mesmerising performance. The violence is a bloody blot on an otherwise beautiful canvas."
Stephen Dalton, reviewing the film for The Times
after it closed the Berlin Film Festival, acknowledged the controversy over the depiction of violence:
Dalton, giving the film four stars out of five, called it a "thoughtful thriller which will bore some viewers with its low-key pacing, while repelling others with its flashes of sickening brutality. But for the less squeamish among us, The Killer Inside Me is an intelligent and gripping take on classic film noir
ingredients." Despite receiving good reviews, Jessica Alba
nonetheless still received a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her performance in this film as well as being cited for her work in Little Fockers
, Machete
and Valentine's Day
.
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the 1952 novel of the same name
The Killer Inside Me
The Killer Inside Me is a 1952 novel by American writer Jim Thompson published by Fawcett Publications. In the introduction to the anthology Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s, it is described as "one of the most blistering and uncompromising crime novels ever written."- Plot summary :The...
by Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson (writer)
James Myers Thompson was an American author and screenwriter, known for his pulp crime fiction....
. The film is directed by Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
and stars Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
, Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10...
, and Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...
. At its release, it was criticised for its graphic depiction of violence directed toward women. The violence has colored most critical reviews of the film ever since.
Plot
Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford (Casey AffleckCasey Affleck
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
) is a pillar of the community in his small west Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
town, patient, dependable, and well-liked. Beneath his pleasant facade, however, he is a sociopath
Antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
with violent sexual tastes. As a teenager, Lou was caught raping
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
a five-year-old girl by Mike, his older step-brother. Mike pleaded guilty to the crime and served prison time to protect Lou. After being released, Mike was hired by the construction firm of Chester Conway (Ned Beatty
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
). One day on the job, Mike had a fatal accident. Lou believes that Conway planned the accident.
At the prodding of Sheriff Bob Maples (Tom Bower
Tom Bower
Tom Bower is a British writer, noted for his revelatory investigative work such as his unauthorized biographies.A former Panorama reporter, his books include unauthorised biographies of Tiny Rowland, Robert Maxwell, Mohamed Al-Fayed, Geoffrey Robinson, Gordon Brown and Richard Branson...
), Lou visits Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...
), a prostitute who is having an affair with Conway's son, Elmer (Jay R. Ferguson
Jay R. Ferguson
Jay Rowland Ferguson Jr. is an American actor.His notable roles include Taylor Newton in four seasons of the CBS sitcom Evening Shade, and a starring role as Rich Connelly in the 2005 NBC television series Surface, which was originally conceived as a mini-series and then expanded to a run of 15...
). When Joyce objects to Lou's treatment of her and slaps him, he throws her on the bed and uses his belt buckle for a spanking until her buttocks are bruised and bleeding. Joyce enjoys pain, and she and Lou begin a passionate love affair.
Joyce suggests that Lou would never leave town with her, but they devise a plot to extort $10,000 from the Conways. Sheriff Maples and Chester Conway ask Lou to oversee the payoff. Lou has another plan: He viciously beats Joyce, intending to kill her. When Elmer arrives, Lou shoots and kills him. He then plants the gun on Joyce, hoping to make the scene look like a murder/suicide. Joyce survives, however, and Conway announces his intention to see her executed for killing Elmer.
Lou's reputation begins to falter: His longtime girlfriend, Amy (Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10...
), suspects he is cheating on her, and the county district attorney, Howard Hendricks (Simon Baker
Simon Baker
Simon Baker is an Australian actor. Since 2008, he has starred in the CBS television series The Mentalist.-Early life:...
), suspects that Lou could be behind the murders. Lou is asked to join Sheriff Maples and Conway in taking Joyce to a hospital in Fort Worth where doctors can operate on her; Conway wants her alive so he can interrogate her as soon as possible. Lou waits in a hotel room while the surgery takes place. A shaken Maples arrives to tell him that Joyce died on the operating table. Lou and Maples return to west Texas by train.
While browsing his father's books at home, Lou discovers some nude photographs of a woman that were hidden in a Bible. The woman was Helene, a housekeeper and babysitter in his youth who bears a strong resemblance to Joyce. Lou recalls that Helene introduced him to sadomasochism, urging him to strike her and proclaiming that she loved pain. Lou burns the photos.
Hendricks arrests a local youth, Johnnie Pappas (Liam Aiken
Liam Aiken
Liam Padraic Aiken is an American actor who has starred in a number of films, such as Stepmom and Good Boy!. He starred as Klaus Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, based on the series of books....
), as a suspect in the murders of Elmer and Joyce. He was found with one of the $20 bills Elmer was to give Joyce in the payoff; Conway had the bills marked in order to blackmail Joyce if she didn't leave town. Because Lou is close to Johnnie, Hendricks asks Lou to persuade him to confess. But it was Lou who had given Johnnie the marked $20 bill after taking it from Elmer. Lou confesses to Johnnie, who promises to protect him. Lou hangs Johnnie, making it look like a suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
.
Johnnie's death only makes the town more suspicious of Lou. Journalist and union organizer Joe Rothman (Elias Koteas
Elias Koteas
Elias Koteas is a Canadian actor of film and television, best known for his roles in The Prophecy, Fallen and the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films.-Early life:...
) implies that he knows Lou killed Elmer and Joyce and suggests Lou leave town. Amy persuades him to elope and acquiesces to his desire to spank her roughly in bed. At first Lou is satisfied, but his homicidal urges begin to resurface and he contemplates killing Amy.
An alcoholic bum whom Lou had previously brutalized (Brent Briscoe
Brent Briscoe
Brent Briscoe is an American actor and screenwriter.Briscoe was born in Moberly, Missouri. After finishing his education at the University of Missouri, Briscoe launched his career as a theater actor. He then segued into screenwriting and acting in feature films...
) says he knows Lou committed the murders and expects $5,000 to keep quiet. Lou asks him to come back in two weeks, when he and Amy plan to elope. That day, Lou beats Amy to death, then chases the bum down the street, accusing him of the crime. The bum is killed by another deputy, Jeff Plummer (Matthew Maher
Matthew Maher (actor)
Matthew Maher is an American television and theater actor who has appeared in, among other works, John from Cincinnati. He has also worked in such theaters as The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, Soho Rep, Berkeley Rep, and Actors' Theater of Louisville.-Filmography :*The Killer Inside...
).
The next morning, Plummer appears on Lou's porch to tell him that Maples committed suicide, heartbroken over Lou's crimes. Hendricks and Plummer try to get a confession from Lou, who cockily refuses. They have a letter that Amy intended to give him before they eloped, in which Amy begs him to come clean. Lou is arrested and sent to an insane asylum.
After a few weeks, a slick lawyer, Billy Boy Walker (Bill Pullman
Bill Pullman
William James "Bill" Pullman is an American film, television, and stage actor. Pullman made his film debut in the supporting role of Earl Mott in the 1986 film Ruthless People. He has since gone on to star in other films, including Spaceballs, Independence Day, Lost Highway, Casper and Scary Movie 4...
), has him released and drives him home. Knowing that the authorities probably have evidence against him — and that the evidence could only be Joyce, who did not die after all — Lou begins to plot his own death.
Joyce, now able to walk but still bearing the scars of that brutal night, is brought to Lou's house. She tells Lou that she refused to cooperate with the authorities because she loves him. Lou says he loves her, too — and then stabs her. Plummer opens fire, igniting the gasoline and alcohol Lou has spread around the house and causing an explosion that kills everyone inside.
Cast
- Casey AffleckCasey AffleckCaleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
as Lou Ford, a West TexasWest TexasWest Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
deputy sheriff and serial killerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
. - Kate HudsonKate HudsonKate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10...
as Amy Stanton, Ford's schoolteacher girlfriend. - Jessica AlbaJessica AlbaJessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...
as Joyce Lakeland, a prostitute. - Ned BeattyNed BeattyNed Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
as Chester Conway - Tom BowerTom Bower (actor)Tom Bower is an American actor who has appeared in a wide variety of television and film roles from 1973 to present. He played physician-husband Curt on The Waltons. He has held a number of prominent supporting roles including Dan Miller in the 2000 film Pollock and the gas station attendant in...
as Sheriff Bob Maples - Elias KoteasElias KoteasElias Koteas is a Canadian actor of film and television, best known for his roles in The Prophecy, Fallen and the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films.-Early life:...
as Joe Rothman - Simon BakerSimon BakerSimon Baker is an Australian actor. Since 2008, he has starred in the CBS television series The Mentalist.-Early life:...
as Howard Hendricks, a county attorney looking to expose Lou as the killer. - Bill PullmanBill PullmanWilliam James "Bill" Pullman is an American film, television, and stage actor. Pullman made his film debut in the supporting role of Earl Mott in the 1986 film Ruthless People. He has since gone on to star in other films, including Spaceballs, Independence Day, Lost Highway, Casper and Scary Movie 4...
as Billy Boy Walker - Brent BriscoeBrent BriscoeBrent Briscoe is an American actor and screenwriter.Briscoe was born in Moberly, Missouri. After finishing his education at the University of Missouri, Briscoe launched his career as a theater actor. He then segued into screenwriting and acting in feature films...
as Bum / The Stranger / Visitor - Matthew MaherMatthew Maher (actor)Matthew Maher is an American television and theater actor who has appeared in, among other works, John from Cincinnati. He has also worked in such theaters as The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, Soho Rep, Berkeley Rep, and Actors' Theater of Louisville.-Filmography :*The Killer Inside...
as Deputy Jeff Plummer - Liam AikenLiam AikenLiam Padraic Aiken is an American actor who has starred in a number of films, such as Stepmom and Good Boy!. He starred as Klaus Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, based on the series of books....
as Johnnie Papas - Jay R. FergusonJay R. FergusonJay Rowland Ferguson Jr. is an American actor.His notable roles include Taylor Newton in four seasons of the CBS sitcom Evening Shade, and a starring role as Rich Connelly in the 2005 NBC television series Surface, which was originally conceived as a mini-series and then expanded to a run of 15...
as Elmer Conway - Caitlin Turner as Helene
Production
Numerous filmmakers have attempted to adapt Thompson's novel into a film since the mid-1950s. 20th Century-Fox originally optioned the project as a possible starring vehicle for Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
around 1956, with Monroe starring as Joyce Lakeland. Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
was attached to star as Lou Ford. Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
was considered at the time for the role of Amy Stanton. After Monroe's unexpected death on August 5, 1962, the project was shelved. A film adaptation
The Killer Inside Me (1976 film)
The Killer Inside Me is a 1976 American crime drama film directed by Burt Kennedy and based on Jim Thompson's novel of the same name. In this adaption, the action was shifted from the west Texas oilfields to a Montana mining town, and several other changes made. It stars Stacy Keach and Susan...
was eventually made in 1976, with Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
as Lou Ford and Susan Tyrell as Joyce Lakeland.
In the mid-1980s, there was another attempt to adapt the book into a film, with Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
as Lou Ford, Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
as Amy Stanton, and Demi Moore
Demi Moore
Demi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...
as Joyce Lakeland. The project was shelved. In the mid-1990s, after the success of Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
, Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
was attached to direct the project. Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
was set to star as Amy Stanton. Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
was considered for the part of Joyce Lakeland and Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
was attached to star as Lou Ford. This effort fell through after the September 11 attacks, because the film script was deemed too violent. Tarantino scrapped everything and started from scratch. In 2003, Andrew Dominik
Andrew Dominik
Andrew Dominik is a New Zealand-born Australian film director and screenwriter. He has directed two films so far: Chopper and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.-Early life and career:...
wrote a highly stylized screenplay, and was at one point to direct it. He hoped the film would star Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
as Lou Ford, Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
as Amy Stanton and Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
as Joyce Lakeland. Dominik lost interest in doing a film adaptation of a 1950s novel, however, and instead chose to film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 American Western drama film. The film is directed by Andrew Dominik, with Brad Pitt portraying Jesse James and Casey Affleck as his killer, Robert Ford.Filming took place in rural Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba...
. Marc Rocco
Marc Rocco
Marc Rocco was an American film director, film producer and screenwriter.He was born in Los Angeles, California, to Harvey King and Sandra Elaine Garrett...
stepped in, and wanted to cast Casey Affleck as Lou Ford, Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
as Amy Stanton and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Margaret Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal born November 16, 1977) is an American actress. She is the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She made her screen debut when she began to appear in her father's films...
as Joyce Lakeland.
Release
The Killer Inside Me premiered on January 24, 2010 at Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. In January 2010, IFC Films
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by AMC Networks. It distributes independent films and documentaries under the IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. It operates the IFC Center....
saved the rights of the film for around $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1.5 million and announced the theatrical and VOD
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
platforms release on June 9, 2010. It was nominated for the Golden Bear
Golden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival
60th Berlin International Film Festival
The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 11 to February 21, 2010, with Werner Herzog as President of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama Apart Together, in competition, while the closing film is Japanese...
. It is part of the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
and ran on April 27, 2010. The film had a limited theatrical release starting on June 18, 2010. It was released as a Blockbuster Exclusive DVD and Blu-Ray rental on August 24th, 2010; the official DVD and Blu-Ray were released on September 28, 2010.
Reception
The film received generally mixed reviews. Review aggregate Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 55% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 97 reviews, with an average score of 5.6/10. The critical consensus is: "The Killer Inside Me is stylish and beautifully shot, but Michael Winterbottom's distance from his characters robs this often brutally violent film of crucial emotional context."
Winterbottom, attending the film's world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, got an audience member's review before the credits had finished rolling: "I don't understand how Sundance could book this movie! How dare you? How dare Sundance?" Rachel Cooke of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, after describing a "sickeningly protracted" scene from the film in which Joyce is beaten by Lou, said "I was so queasy, I had to go and stand outside. I thought I might actually faint"; she notes that several of the scenes of violence are "so long and so horribly graphic" and points out that "by lingering only over the violence done to women — by contrast, a male character gets to die off camera — he has, I think, ruined his own picture, drawing the audience's attention away both from its exquisite noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
mood, and from Affleck's mesmerising performance. The violence is a bloody blot on an otherwise beautiful canvas."
Stephen Dalton, reviewing the film for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
after it closed the Berlin Film Festival, acknowledged the controversy over the depiction of violence:
Dalton, giving the film four stars out of five, called it a "thoughtful thriller which will bore some viewers with its low-key pacing, while repelling others with its flashes of sickening brutality. But for the less squeamish among us, The Killer Inside Me is an intelligent and gripping take on classic film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
ingredients." Despite receiving good reviews, Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...
nonetheless still received a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her performance in this film as well as being cited for her work in Little Fockers
Little Fockers
Little Fockers is a 2010 American comedy film and sequel to Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers . It stars Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand...
, Machete
Machete (film)
Machete is a 2010 action film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis. The "Machete" character originates from the 2001 Spy Kids film, written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. This film is an expansion of a fake trailer that was released together with Rodriguez's and Quentin Tarantino's...
and Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day (film)
Valentine's Day is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall and based on the novel by Michael Connelly. The screenplay and the story was written by Katherine Fugate, Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Akiva Goldsman, Rob Reiner, P. J...
.