The Minus Man (1999)

There's a curious mood to this odd film that belies the grim, grisly subject matter. It's almost a waking dream - a gauzy, hazy, half conscious remembrance of something vaguely unpleasant. The film takes such deliberate time in revealing the magnitude of the killer's pathology that it eventually feels as inevitable as a lazy canoe ride down river towards an unseen waterfall. What's most disturbing, most curious is that the fateful waterfall never arrives. The film just idly slips away into the murky mist of our most primal, most unnamed terrors. Owen Wilson's laconic demeanor and syrupy drawl effectively paint a compelling picture of a desperately disconnected but amiable loner. His eternally forlorn expressions are matched by an insistently melancholic soundtrack creating a tone that's unusually restrained and subdued for a genre that normally revels in overblown melodramatic spectacle. With so much technology today meticulously and cavalierly contriving obscenely graphic, hyper real vistas of nightmarish hell, it's actually refreshing to encounter a film that relies almost exclusively on the power of suggestion to implant deep within our psyches its special horror. Be patient and this nasty little movie will whisper some horribly dark voodoo into your soul.

There's a lot going on inside the head of a quiet, likable serial killer (Owen Wilson), but since the story is told pretty much without going into any inside information about him, we're left in the dark until the inconclusive ending. Nevertheless, some people will watch this all the way through without really getting it, because the central performance of Owen Wilson is captivating.He seems like a complacent, not too bright fellow troubled by hallucinations and unpleasant feelings as he tries to deal with his own demons. Nobody suspects that he's harboring a deep secret as a mild-mannered man guilty of methodically killing several strangers whose lives have touched his. No real explanation is ever given for his state of mind or his preoccupation with killing and how it started.The cast is competent enough but none of the supporting characters have much depth. They're all enigmas whose behavior is never satisfactorily explained. Perhaps the novel offered more of an in depth look at the muddled reasons, but the film seems to deliberately skirt all the answers while at the same time offering an interesting performance by Wilson that does involve the viewer in the unsubstantial plot.Not a film for everyone, it will leave some indifferent to the overall storyline and quirky characters.

I woke up in the middle of the night and knew it was useless to try to get back to sleep immediately. This was on. Yes, it stars Owen Wilson, who is definitely a minus man for me, but it was shown at Sundance, so I gave it a shot.It was certainly different. Not the usual serial killer type of movie. He also just arranged things and watched them happen. he never really seemed engaged in killing and he often fantasized about getting caught.So, why, you may ask, did he do it? Good question, and, no, I don't really know the answer.I did get to see Janeane Garofalo, so it wouldn't be a total loss. I was worth watching, even at 2 am.

The story was a good one, but was presented in a very weak & shallow way.No suspense, thrills or even open ended questions. Waste of time.Owen played the part well, but his character was set up poorly, no history - even later in the film.Even the supporting actors were not set up or built up properly - No history (very little) and no future to foresee.Janeane Garofalo was the only one that impressed me with her character and acting.Dwight Yoakam acted well, but again his character had no depth. I believe this movie should have used the same kind of style as used in "Se7en" and "Butterfly Effect" or even "Silence of the Lambs".