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Vann Siegert is your average nice guy, quietly spoken and
always ready to lend a helping hand. He'd be the ideal partner
if he wasn't a serial killer...
The Minus Man (1999) was directed by actor, director,
writer Hampton Fancher, who is better known for penning the
screenplay for Bladerunner (1982). The Minus Man
was well received, being nominated for four awards and winning
a Special Grand Prize for Fancher at the 1999 Montreal World
Film Festival. The screenplay was adapted by Fancher and Lew
McCreary from Mc Creary's original novel of the same name.
Owen Wilson plays Vann as a true psychopath. He is not an
axe wielding maniac, but rather a sweet almost naive personality
who just does not see that it is wrong to kill people. Even
his chosen means of execution is gentle allowing him "just
the minimum necessary" to get the job done without causing
pain or discomfort. His victims are poisoned and just fall
asleep never to awake again.
When we first meet him he is trying to do a good dead for
Laurie Bloom, played by Sheryl Crow. Unfortunately for Ms
Bloom the price of Vann's help comes a little too high. He
eventually settles down, renting a room from Doug and Jane
Durwin, whose daughter is away at college. Doug (Brian Cox)
is delighted to have the company, but his wife Jane (Mercedes
Ruehl) has some reservations warning her husband not to "make
a boarder a guest". But Vann's winning ways soon finds
Doug getting him a job as a postal worker and Vann starting
an odd relationship with fellow postal worker Ferrin (Janeane
Garofalo).
Of course Vann cannot stop killing. However he rarely does
it out of malice, it's just the way things work out. Our insight
into his internal world is via Wilson's narration, which details
Vann's thoughts and feelings, as well as the hallucinations
that he has of persecuting police officers every time he blacks
out. In this it is similar, but not the same as Dexter
and certainly fans of the show will love this film.
You have to tip your hat to the various actors, all of whom
turn in sterling performances. Wilson's portrayal is so endearing
that he's still the kind of guy you'd take home even knowing
the consequences. Cox and Ruehl, who play his landlords, prove
that Vann isn't the only person with something to hide.
This was a great little film. The picture is nice and clean,
with the options for either stereo or 5.1 audio, though as
this is essentially a character study the 5.1 doesn't really
get a lot to do except to enhance some ambient sounds.
The disc has no extras, which is a shame as it would have
been nice to have the thoughts of the director and actors
on this quirky little masterpiece. If you like serial killers
then you could do worse than spend some time in Vann's company;
he really does seem such a nice young man.
Charles
Packer
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