The Gray Man

THE GRAY MAN isn't the complete story of serial-murderer Albert Fish. It's mostly about his encounter with young Grace Budd in 1928, and the ensuing horror of that case. Fish's biography, as well as his unspeakable crimes, are well documented elsewhere.

This is presented as more of a cat and mouse police procedural / drama. Patrick Bauchau is quite good as Fish, a seemingly kind, gentle old man with astoundingly vile proclivities. A first-rate psychological thriller, TGM is also a useful starting point for anyone interested in further pursuing the exploits of this very disturbed / disturbing man...

Although there's solid performances from the main cast, particularly Patrick Bacau who plays the notorious Albert Fish, this film seems to lack something - thus it's left like its title, grey. What could and should have been an excellent film becomes, because of bad direction, a lack of character development (the detective in particular is poorly developed), plus a poor script, an unsatisfying B movie which is at times tedious and plodding.

Regarding the subject matter, there's too much skipping over of important facts, and the characters are mainly one dimensional clichés. The lack of intimacy in the direction and cinematography - which is perhaps intentional - doesn't work. As a viewer, I'm left not drawn in enough to the characters to really know them, and at times, this left me bored. No time is taken to explore motives of anyone. The film is OK - but that's about it.

Considering that this film was supposed to tell the story about one of the most bizarre serial killers in history, it's absolutely amazing that the end result we get served is this tedious muck. Something is definitely wrong when you realize that the film you are watching easily can be labeled " a film for the whole family", a film the Hallmark channel would "proudly present." Instead of a thoroughly deep-dive into Mr. Fish's murky psyche, a proper probing into the mechanizations that drove this deranged specimen of a man, a both tell and show with the slaughter and cannibalizing of Grace Budd, what you get is a badly acted detective-story ( with film-noiresque monologue ), a lead that don't remotely look like Albert Fish, and a misplaced focus on the detective in charge. The gore is of course non-existent, and while this "tell, don't show" approach work excellently in films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dahmer, here it is sorely missed. Inexcusable. Not to mention that certain liberties is being taken in regards to what really happened.

Bottom line; if you want a scary film for the kiddies ( age 3-12 ), go for this one!! On the other hand, if you want a properly nasty horror-film about good old Albert, you better keep your fingers crossed for a director that truly have the courage to handle this dark material the way it deserves! Hopefully soon one will come along......

I'm not sure what angle they were going for here, sometimes film noir, sometimes doco style but never thriller or horror movie. The fil plays it too nice for that.

The film never really makes you feel as creepy as the character should make you feel.

The actor (forgot his name) who plays the detective was the stand out actor for me.

Its ok but lacks drama :)

Albert Fish was one of the most monstrous of human monsters. While this movie shows him being prepared for electrocution, after he was convicted of kidnapping and cannibalizing a little girl, he taunted his captors that he was also responsible for nearly l00 other unsolved murders. This movie is so devoid of shock, horror, tension, grimness that it could be shown on the Disney Channel with just a few minor cuts. It's like the movie makers were determined to make a "serious" "artful" movie that would not upset anyone. Everything in this film is clean, glossy, sunny and the actor who portrays Albert Fish is so handsome and charming that it's like he walked in from a soap opera. The horrendous life of Albert Fish and the horrors he perpetrated deserves a shocking, bloody, horrific treatment. Nothing in this tame, pallid production suggests any of these qualities.