I worship Cassavetes. While Coppola does mood and message, DePalma spectacle and effect, and Scorcese place and psychology, Cassavetes is all about the character, and nowhere do you see that more than in Killing. Cosmo Vitelli, strip club owner, is deep in debt and in danger of losing his beloved club. So to even things out with the Mob, he must bump off an important bookie, who happens to be Chinese. The plot isn't too intriguing, but Cosmo is. One of the most understated of Cassavetes' main characters (compared with the more involving Myrtle Gordon, Mabel Longhetti, and of course Gloria) Cosmo is a guy who's gone through life treating his emotions as secondary. They've rusted in the closet from being aired so little, and the Cosmo we meet at the beginning is selfish, sardonic, and closed off. When he kills the bookie (can you believe it!? the bookie dies!) he is horrified at what he's done and awkwardly handles being horrified in itself. By the very end he's still quiet, introspective and closed, but we get the feeling he's taken a look at his life and how he goes through it, and he's less than satisfied. It's some of the most subtle character development I've seen, and Ben Gazzara does a fantastic job as Cosmo. One of the signatures of Cassavetes' films is that they reach the climax, and then go on about another hour before ending. It's like life - things happen, but it doesn't stop there...life keeps trundling along, and we're expected to deal with what happens and keep up with the rest of the world. Some real-world surrealism qua 'artistic' strip club shows round everything off perfectly. Watching Cassavetes makes you a little nervous, because you know that if the lead actor is off, everything's going to be horrible. Thank God, the man really knows how to pick actors.
