Letters from a Killer

This movie had the potential to be a decent thriller, but it was hampered by only having about twenty minutes worth of good script, which was mostly used up in the beginning. After that holes started to appear in the story that one could drive a truck through. The movie followed a descending curve from good to ordinary to bad to ludicrous by the time it concluded. It's not recommended.

This film is pretty well written and plot is not usual stuff, A Mystery I would say. Swayze is ok and so on, But there's still something missing. Anyway, I would give it 3/5.

Are prisoners actually allowed to send and receive audio letters to multiple people at a time or anyone at all? Is this really something a prison would entertain, especially if the guards have to listen to every single second of every tape? It seems kinda ridiculous whether it be legit or not, but that's the general setup here. The downside to this premise is a slow tedious build-up of these 'letters' being narrated to us while we watch Swayze trapped in his cell. The first half of this movie drags along with little reward, so much time is given to such a simple idea to explain. Things do pick though in the second half with the movie transforming into an enjoyable, yet somewhat predictable thriller. It never endeavors to explore its possibilities too much beyond a cat and mouse chase, and there's a feeling of a lot of story left on the table with this one. Ultimately the movie is too hampered by its beginnings that it all descends into a bit of a rush to finish it off towards the end. The supporting cast is as you expect, but the recipients of his 'letters' could have been fleshed out more. Swayze is fine, reliable, but somewhat passive throughout.

Letters from a killer has a very unusual storyline. It starts off quite confusing and uninteresting, but as it goes on the excitement gets more and more. Then at the end, you are at the edge of your seat, with all the gun shooting and racing about. I think that this is a film worth watching, but if you miss the beginning, you will probably find the rest of the film hard to understand.

I taped this off HBO largely because it was in HD and might be OK. It turned out to be a very competent thriller, nicely constructed and at about 100 minutes pretty much perfect time, and should keep you guessing to the end. I wasn't a fan of Patrick Swayze but I have to say he is perfectly cast in this, and turns in a very credible and watchable performance. If you are looking for a movie with action and twists for a wet afternoon that doesn't insult your intelligence, you could do an awful lot worse than to watch this. Interestingly line dance scene was choreographed by swayze's mother (Patsy Swayze).