The Minus Man

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Movie
German title The Minus Man
Original title The Minus Man
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1999
length 115 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Hampton Fancher
script Hampton Fancher
production Fida Attieh ,
David L. Bushell
music Marco Beltrami
camera Bobby Bukowski
cut Todd Ramsay
occupation

The Minus Man is an American thriller by Hampton Fancher from the year 1999 . The plot is based on a novel by Lew McCreary .

action

Vann Siegert is a serial killer who kills people who seem dissatisfied with their own lives. The first victim, Laurie Bloom, is a drug addict and has asthma .

Vann moves to a small town, where he takes the job of a mail carrier. He rents a room from the Durwin couple, whose daughter disappeared without a trace some time ago. The host reveals his personal problems and then tells him that Vann is now the daughter of the house .

At work, he meets the local Ferrin, who is interested in him, and the two begin to develop a relationship of sorts. He has hallucinations in which two investigators pursue him, who question him about the reasons for his actions and make him feel that he has to be constantly on guard.

One day, when the police arrive and announce Doug Durwin that his wife Jane has been found dead in their car, Doug is suspected and is eventually arrested. After this incident and a visit to Ferrin, as a result of which he briefly loses control and becomes violent, Vann leaves the city.

In the final shot, a police patrol drives up to Vann's car. Driving next to him, the policewoman lights him up with the movable searchlight of her car and recognizes him from an earlier encounter that had no consequences for him. She then smiles and turns off the highway at an exit.

Reviews

James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that the film "methodically" shows the psyche of a serial killer. This sets it apart from the other films; even in The Silence of the Lambs , Hannibal Lecter was little more than a "faceless monster". Berardinelli praised the portrayals of Owen Wilson, Brian Cox and Janeane Garofalo.

Roger Ebert praised the portrayals of Owen Wilson, Janeane Garofalo, Mercedes Ruehl and Brian Cox in the Chicago Sun-Times of September 24, 1999. He noted that the film's debut director wrote the script for Blade Runner , and suggested that Hampton Fancher must see "a connection" between the two films.

The lexicon of international films wrote: "A subtly developed film without scenes of violence, which is not interested in the cinematic genre, but in the essence of its main character, and through its terrifying normality enables a view into the abyss."

Critic.de described director Hampton Fancher as a not atypical, but sovereign "representative of US independent cinema". Above all, the film can convince with its “striking cast”.

Awards

Hampton Fancher was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize of the Sundance Film Festival in 1999. He won an award at the Montréal World Film Festival in 1999 and was nominated for another award at that festival. He was also nominated for a 1999 American Film Festival Prize in Deauville .

background

The film was shot in Los Angeles and El Segundo , California . He played in the US, where he was shown in five cinemas, around 368,800  US dollars a. The world premiere took place on January 25, 1999 at the Sundance Film Festival . The film was released in Germany on September 21, 2000.

Lew McCreary, the author of the novel on which the script is based, has a cameo and can be seen in a scene in the diner.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Review by James Berardinelli
  2. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  3. ↑ The Minus Man. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ Short review on Critic.de
  5. ↑ Locations according to the Internet Movie Database
  6. ↑ Box office results according to the Internet Movie Database
  7. ↑ Start dates according to the Internet Movie Database
  8. ↑ Background information according to the Internet Movie Database

Web links