TV Reviews : HBO Profiles Mafia Killer in ‘Iceman Tapes’

Anyone prone to watch the adventures of “Teflon Don” John Gotti--found guilty of murder last week in New York--with bemused detachment would do well to watch “The Iceman Tapes: Conversations With a Killer,” airing tonight at 10 on HBO.

The show focuses on Richard Kuklinski, a hit man with ties to Gotti’s Gambino crime family who admits to having murdered more than 100 people over 30 years and is now serving two consecutive life sentences in Trenton State Prison. This episode of “America Undercover” is strong proof--for those misguided souls who need it--that these goodfellas are nasty, brutish and not worthy of adulation.

Primarily a straight interview with Kuklinski, “Iceman” is perversely compelling to watch as he dispassionately describes techniques he used on his victims, while also recounting his “Jekyll and Hyde existence” as he built a secure, happy life for his family.

Nothing he did seems to bother him--”I don’t feel about killing, not at all”--it was strictly business for the former Catholic altar boy. All of his crimes “were motivated by greed” says a prosecutor, and Kuklinski does nothing to dispel that characterization.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of “Iceman” is the interview with Kuklinski’s wife, Barbara, who talks about the “wonderful times” and of their “perfect” family life. The court scenes of the wife and three children reacting to Kuklinski’s testimony are powerful; finding out about his true business unhinges them. The only time we see emotion from Kuklinski is when he talks about his family--”I want my family to forgive me,” he says as he breaks down and sobs.

“Iceman” is a cold, cold look at evil incarnate. In the remorseless Richard Kuklinski, we have a perfect example of Hannah Arendt’s banality of evil--and our sickening fascination with it.