The Killer Inside Me 2010

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Winterbottom was right to keep the light and compositions flat and bright and eerily sunny, no matter what sort of evilness Lou perpetrates. But the story should grow progressively more reckless-seeming and feverish; instead, it is methodical to a fault. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: The Killer Inside Me is hard to watch -- occasionally impossible to watch -- but it never looks away from the hard, isolate, stoic killer at its dark heart, and it makes sure we can't either. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: While the individual moments of brutality are powerful, the pacing of the film as a whole tends to lag. The suspense should be suffocating. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Winterbottom's inability to bring off this lurid stew of sex and violence is one problem; his (mis)direction of Affleck is another. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: To his credit, Affleck avoids making Lou suggest a reboot of Robert. He's pushy and cowardly, but in a more calculating way, and he's sadistically sexual in a way that Robert never was. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Winterbottom captures the atmosphere of a dusty community where everyone knows everybody's history, and where money and power can only sway public opinion to a point. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: This adaptation of Thompson's 1952 novel about a cunning, psychotic sheriff's deputy in a small Texas town locates the killer inside him and immerses us in the cold calculation and horrible logic that pull him from one murder to the next. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: What a crock. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Little, however, can save The Killer Inside Me from its worst impulses, its reveling in brute violence that makes it hard to watch and nearly impossible to admire, even though it's carefully crafted. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: The question of Winterbottom's intent here isn't easily answered, but the power of his abuse scenes is undeniable. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The Killer Inside Me may be the darkest film noir ever made. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Little more than torture porn tricked out in art-house finery. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It's one thing on the page, where you're almost as horrified by the idea of some person actually writing this as you are by what you're reading. But on the screen, actually watching it happen, it begins to fall apart. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Affleck is playing someone split down the middle, but we're stuck seeing only one side of him. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: Raspy-voiced Affleck turns in an amazingly controlled performance as a natural-born killer, with strong backup from the supporting cast. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: None of this makes sense; no character motivation is ever analyzed; and by the time the end credits roll, everyone in the film is dead already. The film is seriously lacking in a sense of redemption, and I couldn't find a moral purpose with a spyglass. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: It's a psychologically haunting portrait of an extreme personality, an amoral, violent, lonely man. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Full of nice little touches, but somehow misses the mark when it comes to the big picture. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: There is a point beyond which Lou's implacability brings diminishing returns. While I admire Affleck's performance, I believe Winterbottom and his writer, John Curran, may have miscalculated. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: John Curran's script can be faulted for leaning too heavily on the childhood roots of Lou's psychosis, but the movie does Thompson proud. It's a scorcher. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The film, sunbaked noir delivered with disturbing savagery and finesse, does its source material full justice. Read more

Wally Hammond, Time Out: This again-atypical film from Winterbottom is a much more sober affair than its early, controversial press might suggest. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: This Killer lacks punch, dynamism and genuinely seedy atmosphere. Read more

Aaron Hillis, Village Voice: Uncompromising and wickedly entertaining ... Casey Affleck leads a rich ensemble cast. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: The poster is stronger than any image in the movie. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: As for the misogynist brutality, it is indeed depraved, made more so by the fact that its female victims are depicted as loving their abuse right up until it turns murderous. Read more