Review of Copycat

Birgitte S.C.´s opinion:

Although Copycat was overshadowed by the huge success of Seven (and therefore was unnoticed by most cinemagoers), it´s not a bad movie at all. The movie had a good cast with great actors such as Holly Hunter (who received an Oscar for her part in The Piano), Harry Connick Jr. and Sigourney Weaver. The story wasn´t that bad either.

What I find good about Copycat is that the movie doesn´t loose any of its strength when you watch it another time. The funny part is that the killer already appears in the very first sequence during the speech of Dr. Helen Hudson. Later on you see him again in the police station (a cop actually says `Hello´ to him!!). I found that very clever and funny (also because later on in the movie Helen Hudson tells MJ to look around in the crowd, because some serial killers like to watch the police at work. How true...).

Copycat isn´t as brilliant as Seven, but this movie certainly deserves a second chance. If you haven´t seen it yet, you certainly missed something!

Studio...................................Regency Enterprises
Distributed by...................Warner Brothers
Director...............................Jon Amiel
Produced by........................Arnon Milchan, Mark Tarlov
Co-Producer.........................Joseph M. Caracciolo, Jr.
Executive Producers..........Michael Nathanson and John Fiedler
Production Designer...........Jim Clay
Director of Photography...Laszlo Kovacs, A.S.C.
Editors..................................Alan Heim, A.C.E. and Jim Clark
Casting by............................Billy Hopkins and Kerry Barden
Written by..........................Ann Biderman & David Madsen
Music by..............................Christopher Young

Cast Helen Hudson.........................Sigourney Weaver
Mary Jane (MJ) Monoham...Holly Hunter
Darryl Lee Collum...................Harry Connick Jr.

Story:

Helen Hudson is a psychiatrist specialized in the behaviour of serial killers. Once she was the victim of one of these killers and she doesn´t dare to leave her house since that day.

When detective Mary Jane (MJ) Monoham asks Helen to help her track down a serial killer, she is forced to overcome her trauma.

Helen discovers that they are dealing with a Copycat, a killer who imitates notorious psychopaths to become as notorious as the killers he imitates. Mary Jane and Helen could be the next victims of this psychopath, unless they stop him...

Best scenes:

- The red dress on her bed when Helen Hudson steps out of the shower...
- Helen Hudson finds all those flying ants in her bed and then discovers the book of Darryl Lee Collum with a finger in it as a pagemarker...
- The déja vu at the end when the copycat killer copies the murder attempt on Helen Hudson...

Most famous quotes:

- "They said she was housebound. They forgot to mention she drinks, takes pills and suffers from hyperventilation.
"I thought she was kinda cute."
(MJ and Ruben)

- "Here´s when Darryl Lee got sloppy. He forgot about the second cop." (The irony!)
(Peter Foley (the copycat killer)

- "Look´s like I helped you over another phobia, Helen!"
(Peter Foley to Helen Hudson)