The Minus Man

Released 1999
Stars Owen Wilson, Brian Cox, Mercedes Ruehl, Janeane Garofalo, Dwight Yoakam, Dennis Haysbert, Sheryl Crow
Directed by Hampton Fancher

Hampton Fancher's The Minus Man is a methodical, chilling excursion into the mind of a serial killer. And, like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, it seeks to explore, not to exploit. Those on a quest for complete understanding won't find it here. The purpose of The Minus Man is not to answer questions and tie up everything into a neat package. This is a character study, not a psychological profile.

In most movies, serial killers are faceless villains or foils for the protagonist. Even Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lechter was little more than a suave, intelligent monster. Henry challenged viewers because it presented a story from the serial killer's perspective. Director John McNaugton abandoned the safety of the sane, stable world to take us into Henry's demented pseudo-reality (a place that many movie-goers would prefer not to visit). In The Minus Man, Fancher (the Bladerunner scribe, making his directorial debut) attempts something similar. His intention is not only for us to see things as Vann does, but for us to sympathize with the character. Murder is made to seem neat, painless, and almost insignificant; except for this minor personality quirk, Vann is a nice guy. There's something twisted and broken deep within him, but he is not evil incarnate.

Summary by James Berardinelli