After his new film Passion Play opened to overwhelmingly negative response at the Toronto International Film Festival, Mickey Rourke has made what I think is a big move to star in the true story Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer. The “Ice Man” of the title is Richard Kuklinski. The film will follow the 40 years of Kuklinski’s life during which he doubled as a professional assassin and a husband and father in suburban New Jersey. [The Hollywood Reporter]
I say this is a “big move” because the role will obviously require Rourke to tap into his method qualities. Consisting of two different personalities and spanning 40 years, this will surely be a transformative attempt from the Oscar-nominated actor. In The Expendables, Rourke showed how good he could be even with meaningless material, so the potential for this performance is through the roof as far as I’m concerned.
Matty Beckerman‘s Natural Selection is handling the project’s financing . David McKenna (American History X, Blow) will adapt the screenplay from Philip Carlo‘s novel. The following quote from Beckerman shows his understandable enthusiasm for the project:
“Richard Kuklinski’s life and Philip Carlo’s true account, three years in the making, is fascinating and unlike any mafia story that’s been brought to the big screen. This is a role Mickey Rourke was born to play and as a huge fan of David McKenna’s work, I am thrilled to have him on board.”
Rourke‘s Passion Play is still without a distributor, and even if it gets one, it will likely be forgotten soon enough. But I have hope that this Ice Man project will provide the juicy material that the actor deserves.
Are you as excited about this role as I am?
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