To Catch a Killer

It was originally titled 'Misanthrope' a much better title. This film starts out with a bang right out of the gate and I was immediately hooked, wondering what the motivations of the killer are. It draws a lot of parallels to real life events which aren't often depicted in films. I guess it's become so commonplace that putting it in a movie isn't that much of a stretch anymore. The movie starts out great but quickly devolves into a series of obvious red herrings. I thought surely the actual killer would have a more interesting motivation, something out of left field. But no, it's stuff we've all seen before in movies and in real life, and in his monologue at the end he sounds tired and bored of himself.

Good direction, good original story, good camerawork and a very good supportive score for the leads. Shailene Woodley is excellent in her role as a troubled law enforcement officer but boy, how fantastic Ben Mendelsohn is. I truly believe he is one of the best character actor of his generation, taking the lead here superbly without any fuss. They are both a joy to watch and their chemistry as investigator partners is profound. This movie may not shock you with its twists and turns like 'Seven', but it is definitely gives you a deep ride until the very end. Its character building is excellent. Just be patient and follow the flow.

So it's like most crime dramas, you know, there's a killer, false lead, false lead, then true lead, true lead until they catch him.

The first part was like that, like most crime movies. But I liked the second part, I'm not going to spoil anything, but the characters and their motivations felt real, felt like it could happen to anyone in this day and age. It left me thinking about a lot of stuff, it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, a bit sad about what happened and overall the killer's story, which is more sad than violent.

Overall I really enjoyed it, it's a slow burner but it pays off. I recommend it.

A marksman strikes on New Year's Eve, killing almost thirty people, on the case is FBI Agent Landmark, who gives a chance to intelligent, but troubled Police Officer Eleanor.

This is a Thriller with a bit of depth, and one that will definitely hold your interest, it doesn't exactly cover any new ground, or give us anything that hasn't been done before, but when I compare this to the batch of recent thrillers that I've seen recently, this one offers a bit more.

The final showdown was a particularly good scene, a good old fashioned scene of the good guy taking on the bad one, the age old hunt for a moral code.

Maybe the scenes inside the abattoir were a little unexpected and graphic, they'll be too much for some viewers.

I've seen Shailene Woodley in a few things, and for me this is the best of her, I thought she was excellent as. I thought Ralph Ineson was terrific.

It's not groundbreaking, but it's a decent watch.

7/10.

First of all, rotten tomatoes has reviewers comparing this to Silence of the Lambs. That's ho I heard about this one and got curious. This movie is a throwback to more of the mystery, thrillers we had in the 90s, but it's not Silence of the Lambs. The killer here is vicious and has a high body count. The pacing was pretty decent and I must say even more exciting than a lot of thrillers out today.

First, that opening sequence will grab your attention and the movie is bright enough to see that action on screen. Every performance works here and is played as a straight forward, solid thriller. I read where folks were split in how it ended. In my opinion, I thought the whole movie is solid and the ending was perfect. This is that rare thriller that I'd actually pay to see again.