The Killer Inside Me
Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me, shot mostly in Oklahoma, was still shooting during last year’s deadCENTER festival. In my mind, the movie is intimately linked to the local film festival. We got our pictures taken with the “Alba Shark.” We saw them shooting a scene downtown. We caught glimpses of Simon Baker and Jessica Alba at a local lounge. I saw Casey Affleck heading to Bricktown as I checked out of the Colcord. Many locals were extras or helped out with the crew. It was a legitimate film, with a legitimate director, being filmed in Oklahoma during the best film festival in the state. So part of me was a little disappointed that it didn’t screen during this year’s festival. Sure, it probably wouldn’t have been the best movie to screen outdoors for the public. But it would’ve been an excellent addition to an already impressive 10th festival.
The Killer Inside Me Films in OKC
Michael Winterbottom is always a bit of a surprise. He seems to fly under the radar. Perhaps it’s the variety of his projects–the way he bounces around from genre to genre, from tone to tone, from mood to mood. But he’s certainly underappreciated. Most people will know him from A Mighty Heart. But, he’s done so much more. He did Jude, Welcome to Sarajevo, 24 Hour Party People, Tristam Shandy, and now The Killer Inside Me. In addition he’s managed to make a documentary based on a Naomi Klein book and a movie that has gained some notoriety because of its unsimulated sex.
I think he does fine work once again with The Killer Inside Me. Based on the pulp crime novel by Oklahoma born Jim Thompson, the film follows the exploits of Sheriff Lou Ford (Affleck) as he navigates his own slippery grip with psychopathy. All of the ingredients of hard-boiled fiction are present. There are unflinching takes on violence and sex. There are twists and turns and double-crosses. It certainly puts the dark back into noir. And for the cherry on top, an ample dose of Freud takes a stab at explanation.
The film is brutal. With seemingly little reason for doing so, Lou turn’s the beautiful face of prostitute Joyce Lakewood (Alba) into something resembling cube steak. It’s brutal. And frustrating. Freud stutters with a reason for this behavior. But whether the Freudian explanation is for Lou or for us remains unclear. Do we even care if violence (or sexual dysfunction) has a cause? Does it matter where the root lies? Or is it enough that it exists?
The violence of the film is also brutal because it comes from Lou’s perspective. To him, the women he loves somehow want this violence inflicted on them. They don’t put their hands up to block punches. For Lou, it is their sexual desire fulfilled.
Why the film offers potential paths toward explanations (e.g. the Freud books on Lou’s bookshelf, the babysitter, the back seat of the car, etc.), it doesn’t provide definitive answers. Perhaps Lou’s past has acted as a compass, directing him down his present path, but he is still very much guiding his own ship.
Casey Affleck impresses once again, playing a psychopathic version of The Coward Robert Ford. He keeps getting better and better. Kate Hudson just makes me long for Almost Famous with the hope that she can rekindle that fire at some point in a future project. Ned Beatty is great as usual. But I’m still not convinced that Alba can really act. She’s a pretty face who delivers some clunky lines. Luckily, a doormat is what the script called for so it’s not as if it’s bad casting. I want to like her as an actor. The shark posters she plastered all over the city last year actually kind of made me like her.
Mostly, I’m just glad that a major film from a credible director was made right here in the Great State of Oklahoma. I hope there is much more that links Hollywood with Oklahoma into the future.
