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.

I gotta say, I liked the graphic novel much more than this movie. In film version, it moved very, very slowly. Still, the topic, Dahmer's high school days, drew me in, in a sort of twisted fascination. Ross Lynch does a very good job in the lead role, sort of a Napoleon Dynamite gone wrong, in an Ed Chigliak sort of way. I was able to feel badly for Dahmer in this phase of his life, and I was left wondering a lot of what if's. I guess every life has these what if's, and Dahmer's ended up taking the horrifying road that it took. Creepy. Even creepier, to me, are the people who "lived" through their encounters with him. What about the prom date? Holy mackerel! A unique look, the unveils itself slowly.

Based on true events, this film tells the story of Jeffrey Dahmer's youth. Played by Ross Lynch, this is the awkward, mostly unknown, events that shaped the Minnesota Monster. Going through an education system where he didn't quite fit it, surrounded by a turbulent home life that didn't seem to give him much love. Dahmer decides to change the way he is perceived and manages to get in with some friends. They hero-worship him, considering him to be an untapped talent that they could vicariously live through - basically they use him to get their kicks. The pace of the film is purposely slow, and despite it, you always feel that an explosion is about to happen. Ross Lynch does a great job in convincing the audience that he's a push away from pushing back. Most people will be aware of what Dahmer goes on to do, but it's the exploits documented here that shape that monster. The film, thankfully, doesn't glorify the serial killer, it just biographs a time not many people know about. The cast is strangely authentic, everybody comes across as average, and the kind of people you might have met or still could meet. The screenplay and framing of it is hauntingly chilling. It's more of a drama film than a horror. It's definitely not what I was expecting, but I enjoyed it all the same. 6 out of 10.

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.

Most of the negative reviews are reflective of what those viewers want the film to be. Unfortunately for them that isn't how art works. I see complaints of "disgustingly making him sympathetic" or it was boring. How exactly can the filmmaker make him a villain before he's a villain? The whole point of the film is what leads up to the very well documented atrocities he commuted. I don't think we are in any danger of forgiving him through the lens of history. People just want to be offended. As for it being boring, I would suggest folks taking ten seconds to see what a film is about before they watch it and rip it for being something else. Again, the viewers problem not the film's.

The acting is superb and it appears everything is pretty spot on to what we know about his teenage years leading up to his plunge into depravity.

Sorry it didn't make things up to entertain people or avoid other's indignation.

If you're a rational adult with a grasp on the concept it's a rather well-executed indie adaptation of an interesting graphic novel. Worth a watch, unless you want to see the exploitation of 17 innocent guys being murdered of course. That's not here.