User Reviews

Greetings again from the darkness. Argentinian writer-director Damian Szifron was behind the terrific WILD TALES (2014), which received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, and this time out, he and co-writer Jonathan Wakeham venture into psychological crime procedural territory. A captivating opening sequence, expert photography, and top notch acting from the two leads keeps us watching, although there seems to have been some confusion on the best path for the script. The end result is watchable, but not memorable.

It is New Year's Eve in Baltimore and celebrations, revelry, and parties are occurring all over the city. As beat cop Eleanor Falco (Shailene Woodley, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, 2014) negotiates a mundane rift between an irritated diner owner and a slow-eating customer, shots begin to ring out. This frantic sequence captures the panic as we witness a few of the 29 gun shots that find a target. Officer Falco races a couple of blocks to the high-rise building where an explosion occurs. It turns out the sniper destroyed his own lair in order to avoid leaving evidence.

Enter renowned FBI Agent Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn, ANIMAL KINGDOM, 2010) who takes charge of the investigation. This point is mentioned because the chain-of-command plays a vital role in the proceedings ... Lammark wants to run the investigation, but bureaucrats and politicians interfere. Lammark hones in on Falco and her instincts. Of course, she has a checkered past that includes having her FBI application denied. Here she acts as a liaison and provides insight into the killer. Get it? One damaged person can relate to another.

Some social commentary gets periodically interjected - gun control, power plays by law enforcement, misplaced priorities by politicians - but the fun part is watching Mendelsohn and Woodley flash their respective talent. She's kind of a flawed Clarice Starling and he's a guy that is committed to finding the bad guy. Filmed in Montreal, cinematographer Javier Julia maintains a cool atmosphere throughout, and Carter Burwell's music delivers some excellent piano parts. This ends up being one of those movies that's enough fun to watch if you don't think too hard while it's playing, and it also reminds us that Ben Mendelsohn and Shailene Woodley are fine actors who deliver in every role.

Opens in theaters on April 21, 2023.

This starts with a great set up. A well prepared, motivated serial killer kills 29 and gets away with it in a fabulous opening.

The second act is all cat and mouse with a great set piece at a shopping mall.

After that it becomes terribly formulaic. White supremicists targeted and taken down by a strong female character with addiction issues, the obligatory black police officer and a female black officer who dues exs into the the scene.

After that it's the slippery slope of gay cop who is dying, killer who is not as well prepared or skilled as he has shown all movie, strong woman who takes him down and then inexplicably extorts the situation for her gain at the end.

All in all, a terrible disappointment.

The entire film comes across like a fan of James Patterson and Law & Order: SVU watched a John Douglas interview and thought, "I can write a screenplay about profiling!" But not just any cat and mouse, "on the trail of a serial killer" story! No, this one will have dialogue with the confidence and uncomfortable mellow-drama of a slam poetry reading.

I can suspend disbelief with films. If it's engaging and feels earnest, I can enjoy it, even if it strays outside of "realistic." This movie and its primary characters, are absurd. Apparently the FBI is filled with hapless, knee jerk egomaniacs that don't think before they act or bother to thoroughly investigate a suspect. Oh, of course, except the philosophical lone wolf agent who could easily crack the case on his own, but for goodwill and a lark, enlists the help of a suicidal, mentally ill beat cop who was denied entry to the bureau years ago despite her uncanny, stellar insights into the mind of killers. She has an eye for them because she, too, is tortured!!! Big ol' booooo!!! I wonder how many FBI agents wax philosophic while sipping coffee and then subvert the cliched movie trope of telling the local authorities to "stand down", by doing open mic night/motivational speaking in a quiet room of eighty cops. I can see the writer fist pumping and cracking his knuckles after that one.

Everything about it smells like contemporary studio films with a checklist of disingenuous, forced archetypes (both "good guys" and "bad guys") and producer notes. Like, can we get some high fives for *insert gender, race, sexual orientation, possible mental afflictions, political affiliation, etc*?

Also, I get tax incentives, and movies are very expensive, but Baltimore by way of Canada, including Montreal accents? I gotta have at least one character that sounds like they're in a John Waters movie.

And the runtime. Come on. Wrap this up in 1:40:00 and then shave off another ten.

You want a good popcorn night see a straight-forward cop movie with good actors and great cinematography. This is the film for you. I don't see Silence of the lambs when I see this film, but more a throwback to other 90's like Hillstreet Blues. Just a solid film with no VFX and superman capes. The script is a little thin but I was glued to my seat and there is quite a lot of suspence and excitement so kudos to the director and the pacing and music. I could have appreciated a different ending but looking back on it now... To Catch a Killer had to end this way. This is sign that movies of this kind, are back in the theaters! And i think this is a film to encourage if solely for that reason. Enjoy your porcorn.

Hollyweird has been in a major slump for A LONG TIME now and EVERYTHING stinks. I actually enjoyed this. Granted, it's a well used plot that has a relatively predictable ending. However, it threw a new motive out in the world. The 'bad guy' doesn't have typical beef with society (if you watch the movie no then read this you'll say ha ha - bad pun), he's not looking for money. I think many have been turned off by this movie due to the pace and the formulaic plot but it has some serious imagery and makes you believe that THIS SCENARIO could actually happen (unlike many other films that are so over the top). In a post covid, post George Floyd world, it even manages to throw a nod here and there how the last 3+ years has affected us as a society.

It's not the greatest film in the world but IMO - it's worth a watch. Maybe you'll disagree. I thought it added a bit of 'something different'.

This starts off strong. On new years eve, during the fireworks, someone snipes random people celebrating from a highrise. As the police piece trace the bullet trajectories, suddenly several laserpointers at once point at one apartment, and the terror and extent of the crime becomes apparent. The apartment then blows up, leaving no evidence.

An eerie (but overused and never expanded) score sets in, setting the mood for the overwhelming mystery of how to catch this killer.

For the first few minutes, the investigation is interesting. The film nails the police procedural. Where is lacks, unfortunately, is the main character. For some inexplicable reason (aka bad writing) a female beat cop is invited to act as the FBI chief investigator's de facto partner. He says it's because she is intelligent and honest. This and other lines are supposed to establish our protagonist as capable, but it walks right into the same Mary Sue trap like the recent Star Wars films, where everyone constantly tells the audience how great Rey is.

Don't tell us, show us.

Having a super capable protagonist is boring. As an audience, you connect with a protagonist through their struggles. To be fair, they give her a backstory of depression and a few failings, but for most of the movie she's just there, saying the smartest lines in the room and whatever is necessary to get the plot moving. The best moments are the few ones where she isn't in control of the situation. When she goes behind her boss's back at one point and gets reprimanded, in the morgue and when the killer strikes again, and towards the very end. Having her feel helpless before a monumental task increases the stakes and suspense.

Suspense is where this film falls flat, unfortunately. Classics like Manhunter, Silence of the Lambs etc all had scenes of the killer preparing and executing their crimes. In Manhunter, these scenes were just as interesting as the police procedural parts, and it created a great rhythm and sense of urgency. Here, the killer isn't seen except in one short scene.

I mentioned woke in my headline. Is the film very woke? Yes and no. There is one ham fisted scene regarding gay marriage. They set it up well enough, with the protagonist accusing the FBI guy of wanting to have sex with her. He says he's married, she asks since when, he says "since we were allowed to". Clever line, would have sufficed. But no, they need to tack on a whole scene at home with the husband that adds nothing and merely interrupts the narrative thrust, throwing in a character we never see again speculating on the killer's motive in a way that doesn't pay off. Every line he says is presented as some profound criticism of America's global politics and society. It has nothing to do with the story. It's a shoed in woke diatribe. Misusing art for politics is called propaganda. I don't like propaganda in my entertainment. Add to that the aforementioned mary sue problem with the protagonist, and you have the usual woke tropes of modern day screenwriting. It's a shame, because the film would have been better without it.

There is another scene in a slaughterhouse and with the killer being vegan that some might consider woke, but it feeds in to the killer's motive, which criticized by other reviewers. I found his motive great, and it's a shame it was never explored beyond surface level platitudes. He's only in the film for maybe 5-10 minutes, and never links to the protagonist, despite the writers establishing her personal background and a shared motif in their lives.

The ingredients were there to make this a truly riveting psychological thriller with a satisfying character driven narrative and conclusion.

Unfortunately, the script is mostly plot driven and then goes completely off the rails after their meeting, with not just one, but two ridiculous resolutions.

On a technical level the film is impressively shot. The director does some interesting camera work, though sometimes superfluous. There are a few montage edits, that feel jarring, but overall on a technical level this is a film that's shot and edited well, and not color graded to hell like so many modern films. Kudos to the DP.

The acting is a mixed bag. The actors mostly go through their scenes with workmanlike efficiency, but there is no room for them to really display their craft. There's no Anthony Hopkins or Tom Noonan theatricality here, nor really any emotion at all. The film feels very sterile, which is usually a sign of a rushed production. The best actor to me was the lady who played the killer's mother.

Overall this is a competently made film, which makes its shortcomings all the more frustrating. It could have been great. Photography, score, actors, it was all there. It just needed a better script and to devote more time to character building instead of social justice tropes that have nothing to do with character development or story. If those combined 10 minutes of dinner scene and mary sue scenes would have instead been used to establish a compelling connection between the killer and the protagonist, or even just scenes giving us an insight into the killer's mind, this would have been amazing.

Scores: Direction and technical aspects: 8/10 Writing: 3/10 Final 5/10 with a point deducted for wasted potential.

The beginning was really good.

But the woman cop, introduced as capable for 2 minutes, then goes up the stairs to enter the blown up apartment. Why was never revealed. Bad cop.

After that she just looks like a deer in the headlights.

Did not like her character, because there was no character. Empty. Not in an interesting way.

I like the actress, but this was just meh because of the boring script.

The politics was interesting at first, then got confusing and boring.

I like the actor, but this character was just a bit overblown. Made me want to rewatch The Boondock Saints again though. Overblown done RIGHT!

That zealous politicians lead to bad and tragic decisions was a good point of the movie. Maybe the only one.

The overkill and silliness throughout (e g. He could go to a homeless shelter to get clothes and food, no cameras or security there I'm sure; just wait till the nazis go back to their truck; everybody be less annoying please).

They could have caught him much sooner because all it took was a little logical thinking. Geez. Nothing special.

His mother should have killed him (oh, and bought him clothes and food.....).

The way lady cop talks to the killer is ridiculous. I did not care for their psych-101-philosophical ramblings and gaga reasonings.

And then it takes another 15 minutes till the end. Yawn.

How I wish he would have killed her. Or the ending he asked for, no police appearance.

Not recommended.