The Killer Inside Me - Movie Review

Seeing Jessica Alba naked more often than clothed seemed to be the reason this film was made. Mostly. Killer Inside Me featured plenty of nudity and rough sex and simply lacked credibility. As much as I wanted to like this movie, it bored me to tears.

Lou (Casey Affleck) is a small town Deputy tasked with running off a prostitute (Alba) who has seduced the son of a prominent citizen, Chester Conway (Ned Beatty). When the prostitute slaps Lou across the face, his kinky secrets manifest themselves in a fledgling relationship. Lou exploits the situation to try and create a new lease on life for himself. He has everything figured out, or so he thinks. When his plans begin to unravel, Lou pulls out all stops to change his fate.

John Curran created this screenplay, which is based on a novel by Jim Thompson. I would venture to guess that the novel was better. Curran spends time developing the main character, but the rest of the cast are left with flat caricatures. The pacing is horribly slow and the mood constantly subdued. The rare pleasure the audience is treated to comes in the form of Jessica Alba, whose talent and beauty alone are not enough to save this poorly executed script. The story itself has some interesting twists, but they take woefully long to develop and feel contrived.

Affleck wasn't very good. Between his natural vocal pattern and the accent he was attempting to deliver, the dialogue was often obscured by his horrible delivery. I just didn't dig it. Alba didn't have a lot to say, but she is a natural on screen. She is an excellent actress. Her looks are a bonus. But that alone is not enough to make the acting tolerable. Beatty was good in a small supporting role.

The Killer Inside Me pulls down an R rating from the MPAA, which is adequately applied. Excessive sexual encounters, brutal violence, violence against women, murder, arson and language all create intensity that would be better geared toward a mature audience. Mid-teens at least.

The Killer Inside Me had great potential. It was wasted on a tepid performance from Affleck along with long stretches of subdued, boring plot development that seemed excessive. The intense scenes were gratuitously violent and sexual. They hardly made up for the sluggish pacing through most of the film. It could have been much better. Not recommended. 4.5/10.

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