The Killer Inside Me

Michael Winterbottom's adaptation of Jim Thompson's extraordinary 1952 pulp novel is slavishly faithful to its source. The story revolves around Lou Ford (Casey Affleck), a superficially respectable sheriff's deputy in a Texas oil town who's actually a psychotic murderer—killing the son of a rich local power broker (Ned Beatty), a sultry prostitute (Jessica Alba), and his own longtime girlfriend (Kate Hudson), among others. In its original form the tale is told by Ford himself, and John Curran's screenplay lifts whole swaths of dialogue directly, along with much of Ford's narration, which is presented in voiceover. Affleck adds enough simmering undercurrents to the killer's apparently good-natured exterior to give the character a quietly menacing quality, while also delivering his homicidal outbursts with frightening conviction. Although the literal treatment here fails to fully capture the book's haunting quality, this neo-noir thriller still boasts considerable power. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include interviews with costars Casey Affleck (3 min.), Jessica Alba (3 min.), and Kate Hudson (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a solid film.] (F. Swietek)