Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

zif ofoz This is one odd murder mystery of a movie and it kept me riveted to the plot line. And the plot and the action and the characters can be a bit of a challenge to keep pace with.The multiple folds in the presentation of the past murders and the present murders throughout the movie; and when detective Aubray is teaching the characteristics of a murder scene to his pupils is fascinating! You can see how he is both teaching his students what he knows and analyzing his current investigation pulling on his knowledge of serial murderers. He is also a student - not just the teacher.The down side to this movie is that most unsatisfying ending - he has become the art of the murderer he just shot! Both are dead now - which one won? Was there a winner? The ending is left up to you.

siderite This movie was recommended by a friend as a psychological thriller and it is clearly what it attempted to be. However, while having a weird enough story, it was never clear enough, nor did it provide a way to really understand any of the characters. Some of the obvious points that the characters missed also damaged the feel of the film.What it is about: a detective is haunted by the last case he worked on, a serial killer case that he probably solved, since killing the only suspect in self defence stopped the killings. And now a copy cat appears, just as annoyingly pretending to be an artist while killing people and having an unhealthy obsession with our detective. But it he really only a copy cat?A very good cast should have provided more entertainment in this film. The detective is Willem Dafoe, his art friend is Peter Stormare, the wannabe rookie is Scott Speedman, James Rebhorn is somewhere around and both Clea DuVall and Amy Carlson have ridiculously small roles. Extra points to who recognises the detective's neighbour, reduced to 30 second roles in obscure movies.As such, the script looked similar to Se7en, a much better movie from 12 years before. Dafoe's character was obscure and hard to empathise with and any other role was minimal, including the one of the killer. The relation to anamorphism is interesting, but not challenging in any way: you get better from the Wikipedia article than from the film. This movie failed.

P Allen Brown This film is basically two hours of Dafoe's character drinking himself - nearly literally - to death. The only surprise in this film is that you didn't have enough clues or character knowledge to be surprised. It was just a grim, sad waste of time.Willem Dafoe is excellent actor. Peter Stormare is an excellent actor. But this film just sucked. Slow doesn't make the movie bad, it was just bad. The sketchy plot mixed with artistic ramblings of anamorphic detail aren't cohesively drawn together in a meaningful way for a plot except to highlight some gore which is illustrated from several perspectives, finally at the end. I really appreciate the artistic vision, but as entertainment, it put me to sleep. (Seriously, I fell asleep and had to re-watch the film - which was even more disappointing.)I generally don't like to make negative comments or reviews on the works of others, even when they suck, but this film warranted one. It's just too bad that these great actors were shamed with this end result.

nikhilsharan This story deserves a better director. Someone who understands the subject very well. The idea was really cool but follows the same platform of movies like Silence of the Lambs. Acting is nearly good. I think with a little more effort and time it could have been more interesting.There are too many co-incidences which spoil the mystery. The story is certainly dragged at places. And at places it makes you sleepy. The music is nothing great. Willen Dafoe tries his best to impress. So I think it is not the one to watch in a theater but its a good watch at home. Nothing Brainy about it. It won't keep you guessing.