`The Minus Man' is a well-done variation on the familiar movie theme of the stranger who shows up in town and has a profound impact on the people he comes in contact with. The twist here is that the stranger in town, Van Siegert (Owen Wilson), is a serial killer.
We're not prepared for this when we're first introduced to Vann at a diner where he meets up with an obviously stoned young woman, played surprisingly well by singer Sheryl Crow. He takes her home (she thinks they're going to get high)-and then he kills her. Vann then moves to a small town where he gets a job in a post office (!) and meets a young woman named Ferrin (played by a surprisingly pretty Jeaneane Garofalo) and becomes a border in the home of Brian Cox and Mercedes Ruehl, a couple who are in denial about what has happened to their daughter.
Soon people begin dying, but no one seems to suspect Vann. After all, he's nice-looking and pleasant, and so unassuming that he can look at an artist's rendering of the killer in a local newspaper and say aloud, `Looks like me.'
The movie never explains why Vann kills or whom he chooses. He is aware of what he is doing, however, and afraid of being caught-throughout the movie he has imaginary dialogs with two law enforcement officers, played by Dwight Yoakam and Dennis Haysbert.
Movies such as this rely on sustaining suspense about who the murderer will or won't kill next, and whether he'll get caught. The film, to its credit, doesn't let us down on either account.
We're not prepared for this when we're first introduced to Vann at a diner where he meets up with an obviously stoned young woman, played surprisingly well by singer Sheryl Crow. He takes her home (she thinks they're going to get high)-and then he kills her. Vann then moves to a small town where he gets a job in a post office (!) and meets a young woman named Ferrin (played by a surprisingly pretty Jeaneane Garofalo) and becomes a border in the home of Brian Cox and Mercedes Ruehl, a couple who are in denial about what has happened to their daughter.
Soon people begin dying, but no one seems to suspect Vann. After all, he's nice-looking and pleasant, and so unassuming that he can look at an artist's rendering of the killer in a local newspaper and say aloud, `Looks like me.'
The movie never explains why Vann kills or whom he chooses. He is aware of what he is doing, however, and afraid of being caught-throughout the movie he has imaginary dialogs with two law enforcement officers, played by Dwight Yoakam and Dennis Haysbert.
Movies such as this rely on sustaining suspense about who the murderer will or won't kill next, and whether he'll get caught. The film, to its credit, doesn't let us down on either account.