Misanthrope

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.

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.

I haven't been rating movies, but I feel it is necessary for me to review this one. This is not a thrill-a-second kind of movie. It progresses intelligently and thoughtfully. It is a thinking movie. The acting and script are excellent. The two leads were perfect for this movie. They seemed to feed off of one another, trying to outdo each other as the best actor in the movie. So many movies fall flat at the end. But this one excelled. It actually has a good ending. I recommend this movie to anyone who is intelligent, and likes to think. Yes, it got a bit slow with some scenes that maybe could have been written a little better. That's why I'm only giving it an eight. But I don't know how anyone could walk away from this movie disappointed!

Misanthrope (To Catch a Killer) delivers a chilling and brutal chase after a shooter that manages to evade technology surveillance and large scale police forces. Our protagonist is a climb-from-the-bottom police officer with good motivation and talent. The chase after the killer will go through hard scenes, politics and personal confrontations going all the way to a conclusion which is in some ways predictable and in some ways not.

Overall, Misanthrope is a believable thriller that will keep you thinking and guessing all the way through. The characters are great and we are given just enough background on each to have us care without boring us with irrelevant details. Although there is plenty of action, the movie is not "a bullet a second" and there is plenty of drama and dialogues in between, which is a breath of fresh air compared to all the beautiful-CGI no-story films we see out of Hollywood.

I liked "Misanthrope". It is well made, well acted and well written. It will not win any Oscars, but I still recommend it to anybody who is into crime drama and police action movies. Exact score: 72 / 100.