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A lot of people will begin clamoring for Michael Shannon to get an Oscar nomination for his performance as killer-for-hire Richard Kuklinski in The Iceman - and with good reason: he is fantastic in it. It’s the kind of bone-chilling, unnerving portrayal we’re used to seeing from Daniel Day-Lewis or Al Pacino. The film, while not as even as Shannon’s towering portrayal, is still a worthy endeavor.

Kuklinski story was ripped from the headlines in 1986 when the seemingly innocuous Jersey banker, husband, and father turned out to be a secret assassin who murdered more than 100 people, often in gruesome ways that would put Freddy Cougar to shame.

The film doesn’t make any attempts to humanize Kuklinski’s behavior – rather, it tries to delve deep into his psyche and examine how and why a “good boy from the neighborhood” could become such a monster. In the end, it seems to blame not only a sociopathic psyche, but a religious upbringing that unintentionally squashed whatever compassion or humanity he may have had.

All of this is expertly conveyed by Shannon, who shows Kuklinski to be as remote from himself as he is ruthless to his victims. It’s an interesting portrayal, and one that the Academy will likely reward when it comes time to hand out the next round of nominations.