KILLER: A JOURNAL OF MURDER
A film review by Vince Waldron
Copyright 1997 Vince Waldron
This worthy effort from star James Woods slipped in and out of theaters so quickly that many of you will probably assume it's a straight to video release when it finally pops up on Blockbuster's new release shelf, which should be any day now. But I suspect the film's low profile has more to do with the unfortunate timing of its release than anything else; as the third death row drama to hit the nation's screens in year when we'd already suffered through Sean Penn and Sharon Stone's long walk down the last mile, it's no surprise that this somewhat more modest movie would come and go without hope of reprieve. Which is too bad, since the movie's premature demise deprived filmgoers of a catching a great unbridled turn by James Woods on the big screen. A nicely-realized period piece set in the years leading up to the depression, "Killer" purports to tell the story of America's first bona fide serial killer, related through the eyes of an unusually principled prison guard who befriends the outcast con throughout the years of his death row incarceration. And though "Killer" bears perhaps too many similarities in theme and plot to the year's two previous death row dramas--Tim Robbins' "Dead Man Walking" and the one that starred Sharon Stone, the name of which eludes me right this instant--it has by far the most driving narrative of the three, as well as a central relationship that struck me as a far more plausible dynamic than that explored in either of its more high-profile precursors. But see this one for the performance of James Woods, an actor who consistently makes such interesting choices that he could well develop into one of America's most accomplished actors as he matures, assuming he doesn't accidentally become some kind of Hollywood institution along the way.
-- Please reply directly to me at:
ag644@lafn.org Vince Waldron
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