The Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Hitman

The DVD cover blurb for The Iceman pants: “He's killed over 125 people, one at a time… sometimes just for practice.” As killers go, Richard Kuklinski, “The Iceman,” comes across as a relatively normal suburban guy: concerned with the safety and security of his children, intent on keeping business and home separate, and extremely protective of his off-work family time. So when a Christmas Eve complication runs into overtime, his lethal temper flares with fatal results. The salient quality of the efficient Mr. Kuklinski's psychological makeup--what made him a monumental success in his chosen field as a killer-for-hire--is his ability to completely divorce himself from emotion concerning the taking of human life, while retaining a striking humanity in other areas of his life. Yes, he had an extremely hard childhood, but Kuklinski doesn't blame anyone for his current fix (multiple life sentences in a maximum security facility); mostly it was just business to him, nothing personal. Having aired on HBO as two separate features (The Iceman Tapes and The Iceman Confesses), filmed 10 years apart and presented on the America Undercover series, this is likely to be of interest, especially as the recent demise of John Gotti has reminded us all of the Mafia's involvement in society. Less showy than the Teflon Don, mob operative Kuklinski recalls the strong silent gangster stereotype, but his ability to balance a bloody profession with a cozy family life underscores a truism about organized crime in America: think what you want, to these guys it's just a job. Recommended. Aud: C, P (M. Tribby)