Mon ami Dahmer

I'm a fan of Derf's graphic novel about his teen experiences in the late '70s with Jeff Dahmer -- as a result I had mixed feelings about a film version. On the one hand, I was excited, but on the other was quite curious how the relatively brief story could be turned into a feature length film.

In terms of storytelling, the movie works. Yes, as a reader of the graphic novel may have suspected, the pace ends up being a bit slow, but it's still compelling stuff -- the viewer is there just as Dahmer arrives at a fork in the road of his life. Which way will he take? Will he end up just being an eccentric, or will he take that other, infinitely darker road?

We all know the answer, and of course the movie has a strong tragic element to it. It's all the more tragic -- for Dahmer's victims and their families, but also for Dahmer himself -- when we see that there was just enough to the guy ... just enough potential ... to make him possibly go the other way.

At times watching the movie can be tough going, but not for the reasons you might think. Watching a kid as painfully awkward and then as deeply depressed as Dahmer go through the torture of Middle American high school can be truly excruciating, all the more so because it seems to be happening in slow motion, like watching a car crash. But make no mistake -- it is absorbing human drama, quite unique in our age of comic book heroes and lurid reality TV.

Even if you don't particularly like slow-burn drama, see the movie anyway, for the performances. Lynch doesn't say a lot but he's truly engrossing to watch. Anne Heche is virtually unrecognizable as Dahmer's mother skating along the lip of sanity -- her manic performance is brilliant and unforgettable. And as usual Dallas Roberts impresses as Dahmer's father.

Highly recommended -- but don't go expecting a serial killer flick.

Taking place over the course of Jeffrey Dahmer's last year in high school, and culminating with the fateful meeting between Dahmer (Ross Lynch) and Steven Hicks (Dave Sorboro), writer/director Marc Meyers's My Friend Dahmer is based on the graphic novel by John Backderf (played in the film by Alex Wolff), who attended the same school as Dahmer, and formed a pseudo-friendship with him. The film is tonally brilliant, coming across like Breakfast Club (1985) directed by David Fincher, perfectly capturing 80s tackiness. Narratively, however, it's extremely plodding, and could easily have been trimmed by 20 minutes.

It's also difficult to see what Meyers was trying to achieve; other than a couple of brief moments, we're never given any real access to Dahmer's interiority, so he remains an enigma, always at arm's length (which could have been the point). But is Meyers asking us to feel sympathy for Dahmer because he had a difficult adolescence, came from a broken home, couldn't make friends in school. Or is this simply a character study (if we didn't know it was about Dahmer, it could be any number of examinations of high school awkwardness)?

The lack of clarity regarding the film's theme is compounded by the scenes where it looks as if Dahmer is about to murder someone, only to stop at the last second. This is an especially strange way to generate tension, insofar as we already know his first murder was Hicks. Also, if the film is actually trying to say something of societal worth regarding serial killers, directionless youth, nature vs. nurture etc, trying to draw an audience into the narrative with the prospect of murder probably isn't the way to go about it. The film also fails to really get into the issues of Dahmer's sexuality, and his confusion and frustration about being gay. It's worth a look, and Lynch's performance is quite something, but if you're already familiar with Dahmer's story, you won't find much insight here.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name, My Friend Dahmer, attempts to take a new perspective on the 'serial killer' film. The source material, written by John (Derf) Backderf, provides an insight into the High School years of this his (then) friend, Jeffrey Dahmer, who is most infamous for his serial killing spree of his male lovers and also his cannibalistic tendencies. We follow Dahmer through his troubled home life, burgeoning deviant behaviour, as well as his relationships with his 'friends' (more like bullies), whom he gains through odd behaviours, such as faking fits in school.

Throughout the film there is a distinct struggle by the director (Marc Meyers) to reconcile his views of Dahmer as serial killer, with the sympathic portrayal of him by his former friend. Whether this is due to Backderf's guilt of his treatment of Dahmer, an emotion we glimpse in his character towards the end of the film, or if it is an attempt by Meyers to make a profound statement on human psychology and the latent murderer in any of us, is unclear. However, this is the film's greatest weakness in we can never be sure of its ultimate intention.

On the whole, Ross Lynch's performance of Dahmer is to be lauded; he doesn't become a stereotype at any point, unlike the rest of the cast. Alongside his performance, the ideas of objectification and identification with Dahmer are the best feature of this film. From the opening, the choice of framing of both Dahmer and others, leads to a fragmentation of the body, only giving us glimpses of eyes, legs, bodies; linking the intertwining of Dahmer's obsession of sexualisation and objectification of his future victims. The filmmaking itself is extremely interesting, with its contrasting use of shadow and light; focus and blurring of Dahmer and the choice of camera angles which often distance us from Dahmer, giving us the same predatory perspective he would later use himself.

By showing Dahmer through Backderf's perspective, it almost feels as though Backderf is trying to atone for his behaviour towards Jeff, leading to Meyers' confused direction. As a result, the film becomes dull, as events are repeated monotonously, to emphatically suggest that Dahmer's eventual behaviour was caused by his external circumstances. The film never dares to show Dahmer as murderer or explain his eventual behaviour, leaving the film on an unsatisfying conclusion. Whilst the film succeeds in examining how circumstances can affect psychology; by making Jeffrey Dahmer(!) the nicest person we encounter, the film doesn't fully demonstrate or explore the complexity and horrific, murderous nature of Dahmer.

An upcoming film that seems to be taking a similar approach to serial killer biopics is Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, a film about Ted Bundy, focusing on the serial killer from his girlfriend's perspective. Oddly enough, the film stars another Disney alumni, turned serial killer actor, Zac Efron, a trend it seems to try and escape their whiter than white image from the House of Mouse. Whether this film can succeed in balancing the killer's evil deeds with a psychological approach, which tries to rationalise or explain his behaviour, therefore presenting a serial killer, not as an 'Other', but as a human, remains to be seen.

Bubblegum Disney popstar Ross Lynch goes about as far from Austin&Ally as you can get in portraying a budding serial killer in My Friend Dahmer.

The film is based on a book written by one of his acquaintences from high school whose character is played by Alex Wolff. Dahmer in his small town high school kid is seen as a loner and a misfit who would do all kinds of attention gettng things to try and fit in.

He was also the child of a breaking and then broken home with pparents played by Dallas Roberts and Anne Heche. Both were wrapped in their own issues and hd time for him.

This film is a chronicle of observed events, it offers no explanations, no whys and wherefores. It is a well cast pieceof work though it doesn't seem to have led to Ross Lynch being offered more serious roles. It may yet happen for him.

Curious biopic that can't quite decide whether it should be a coming-of-age tale or something more chilling. The confusion unfortunately makes this seem at times sympathetic to the serial killer.

Yes he is obsessed with dead animals and dissolving their remains in acid, but he seems little different from the awkward adolescents of countless other high school movies. Lynch is good and definitely creepy, but not that creepy....

If you're looking for explanations as to why Dahmer went on to murder, necrophilia and cannibalism; this will only partially satisfy you. We see hints that he is becoming isolated and morbidly inclined. He has a strange obsession with a neighbour jogger and is spending too long in the shed carrying out his infernal experiments. And the family background is troubled in the extreme. With a domineering but neurotic mother, and a weak-willed father.

Throughout the film, Lynch always seems to be fighting to keep his demons in check. At one stage it looks as if he is about to murder their pet Labrador, but he pulls himself back. The film constantly make us feel sorry for him. He's a loner trying to fit in, but his dark side eventually overwhelms him. Every time he reaches out to someone, he is rebuffed. As the rejections mount, his behaviour becomes only more erratic.

The film stops just as his murdering career kicks-off. The film lets us make up our own mind about where to place the blame.