To Catch a Killer

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.

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!

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.

Just by watching the trailer, I was annoyed with Mendelsohn's character Lammark, and I questioned casting Woodley as a beat cop - I mean there are so many other more convincing female actors out there. But oddly enough, both actors and their characters grew on me as the film progressed.

I'm also not a fan of slow paced films, and this one mostly is, but oddly enough, Argentinian co-writer and director Damián Szifron (in his first English film debut) made it all work with engaging scenes and circumstances. His directing was spot-on, and although there was ambiguity to many scenes and dialogue, the film came together like an old school psycho-thriller/police procedural. It felt like a non-Hollywood-stylized movie version of a better Criminal Minds episode.

The story was nothing revolutionary, but delivered enough suspense at the right moments, built intriguing character interest, and had some riveting action just at the right times to keep me fully engaged throughout the entire almost two hour runtime. So considering the current slim pickings out there for down and out enjoyable thriller/cop films, this one is a winner, and a definite recommend from me.

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.