The Killer Inside Me: Casey Affleck as Texas Deputy Lou Ford

Casey Affleck in a promotional image for The Killer Inside Me (2010) Vitals Casey Affleck as Lou Ford, diabolical deputy sheriff and sadistic sociopath West Texas, Summer 1952 Film: The Killer Inside Me Release Date: June 18, 2010 Director: Michael Winterbottom Costume Designer: Lynette Meyer WARNING! Spoilers ahead! Background The trouble with growin’ up in a small town is everybody thinks they know who you are… …begins Casey Affleck’s narration as West Texas deputy sheriff Lou Ford in The Killer Inside Me, Michael Winterbottom’s 2010 adaptation of Jim Thompson’s 1952 novel of the same name. Ford exemplifies a favorite Thompson trope: the amoral Southern lawman who masks his murderous, psychopathic personality behind a dim, folksy exterior; imagine Barney Fife was secretly Ted Bundy, and you’ve got Thompson’s novels like The Killer Inside Me and, my personal favorite, the darkly comic Pop. 1280. The cinematic possibilties of this rich plot naturally brought Hollywood calling,…