Owen Wilson stars as a dangerous stranger in Hampton Fancher’s dark drama The Minus Man. New to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
The Film
I love a slow burn. Especially in well-worn genre films. The Minus Man excels at bucking the convents of the serial killer thriller. Writer/Director Hampton Fancher has a complicit partner in crime with Owen Wilson in this low-key bit of tension.
Vann Siegert (Wilson) is not your typical serial killer. The quiet loner has an easy smile and a disarming charm about him. Charming enough to find ways to poison his unsuspecting prey with ambrosia spiked with a rare fungus from the Pacific Northwest. After his latest kill, Vann finds himself making a life for himself. Renting a room from an empty nest couple (Brian Cox and Mercedes Ruehl). Starting a job at the post office. Meeting a young woman (Janeane Garofalo). The pieces are coming together as quickly as they begin to fall apart. Vann can’t help his nature and as the bodies begin to pile up the police seem to be closing in – only a fingerprint or hair fiber away.
The Minus Man is not the garish dark comedy of American Psycho. Fancher’s film, adapted from the Lew McCreary novel of the same name, has more lofty subtle goals. Though both are about the interior lives of disturbed individuals The Minus Man is not just the interior of someone disturbed. That lived a life that Vann goes about without much of a worry or concern for things like morality or judgment as he kills indiscriminately, albeit very carefully – methodically – is the narrative spine of the film. This is a film that seeps into your skin rather than rips it off, staying with you long after the film has ended.
Part of the success is in large part due to the performance of star Owen Wilson. Dropping any comedic affectation, the actor is a genuine surprise as the killer. The work here is complex without a hint of irony or sarcasm. Wilson embodies Vann with the quiet curiosity and empty sections of a soul with the kind of easy-going charm that makes the character so disturbing. The unease that rises through the film is due to Wilson’s perfectly modulated performance. What is even more disturbing is that it’s done with little to no violence portrayed on screen.
Though it isn’t just Wilson and Fancher that are at play here. Fancher’s supporting cast led by the indomitable Brian Cox, and Mercedes Ruehl is as good as Wilson. They are all given roles that defy expectations in a genre that has been mishandled by people far less capable than Fancher at its lowest. It is to be expected that Cox and Ruehl provide stellar performances. The surprise is the considered and wonderful work of both Janeane Garofalo and Sheryl Crow. Crow’s performance amounts to a cameo but it’s as good a cameo as one can expect. It’s Garofalo’s heartbreaking turn as a Postal Worker employee that gives the film its broken soul. The work is surprising as there’s never a moment where the actor is asked to play her “ism” (the same with Cox).
In large part, this is what separates Fancher’s work in the serial killer genre. His eye for what isn’t needed to be said and the power of the unsaid. Rather than spelling everything out like so many since Hitchcock’s Psycho, The Minus Man comes without simple answers or attempts at a pathology about the reasons why. Like Memories of Murder or Zodiac, The Minus Man, finds its narrative outside the norms of the serial killer genre, and it’s better off for it.
The Transfer
The all-new HD Master – From a 2K Scan of the 35mm Interpositive is an impressive upgrade and a beautiful representation of its visual style. The sharp image is free of any dirt, scratches, or any defects through the run time. The transfer is gorgeously luminous retaining all beautiful black and contrast levels without a hint of artificating or crushing of the blacks making the 35mm shot film look beautifully representative of its origins.
The Extras
They include the following:
NEW Audio Commentary by Co-Writer/Director Hampton Fancher and Producer Fida Attieh, Moderated by Entertainment Journalist/Author Max Evry
Theatrical Trailer
The all-new Audio Commentary by Co-Writer/Director Hampton Fancher and Producer Fida Attieh, Moderated by Entertainment Journalist/Author Max Evry opens with how they found Owen Wilson. Some of the details include Fancher’s thoughts on the main character and how Wilson’s performance in Bottle Rocket informed on this; what convinced them to cast Wilson – and the process of casting; a larger discussion of casting bigger names like Sheryl Crow, John Carrol Lynch for smaller roles – including Dwight Yokam’s suggest to cast Crow; a larger discussion about Fancher’s relationship Wes Anderson – which resulted in a documentary about Fancher; a discussion of the casting “what if’s” though no real names are named but the discussion of what they were looking for; the casting and performance of Brian Cox – Fancher’s view on working with the actor; an interest fact about Fancher and football; developing and finding the Lew McCreary novel the film is based upon; some of the troubles that he ran into with his debut as a director; the production schedule and budget; the working with Janeane Garofalo – a larger discussion of her professional career; the work of Yokam and Dennis Haysbert; a larger discussion throughout about the actors, casting, and the work of Mary Vernieu; and much more. Fancher, Attieh, and Evry deliver an interesting commentary with Evry ensuring that the track is constantly filled with interesting information about the production and film.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for The Minus Man (2:02); Clay Pigeons (235); Suspect Zero (2:14); The Veil (1:29); Positive I.D. (2:03); Misery(2:22);
The Final Thought
The Minus Man is a minor key piece of filmmaking brilliance. Kino has done right by the film. Highest recommendations.
Owen Wilson stars as a dangerous stranger in Hampton Fancher’s dark drama The Minus Man. New to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
The Film
I love a slow burn. Especially in well-worn genre films. The Minus Man excels at bucking the convents of the serial killer thriller. Writer/Director Hampton Fancher has a complicit partner in crime with Owen Wilson in this low-key bit of tension.
Vann Siegert (Wilson) is not your typical serial killer. The quiet loner has an easy smile and a disarming charm about him. Charming enough to find ways to poison his unsuspecting prey with ambrosia spiked with a rare fungus from the Pacific Northwest. After his latest kill, Vann finds himself making a life for himself. Renting a room from an empty nest couple (Brian Cox and Mercedes Ruehl). Starting a job at the post office. Meeting a young woman (Janeane Garofalo). The pieces are coming together as quickly as they begin to fall apart. Vann can’t help his nature and as the bodies begin to pile up the police seem to be closing in – only a fingerprint or hair fiber away.
The Minus Man is not the garish dark comedy of American Psycho. Fancher’s film, adapted from the Lew McCreary novel of the same name, has more lofty subtle goals. Though both are about the interior lives of disturbed individuals The Minus Man is not just the interior of someone disturbed. That lived a life that Vann goes about without much of a worry or concern for things like morality or judgment as he kills indiscriminately, albeit very carefully – methodically – is the narrative spine of the film. This is a film that seeps into your skin rather than rips it off, staying with you long after the film has ended.
Part of the success is in large part due to the performance of star Owen Wilson. Dropping any comedic affectation, the actor is a genuine surprise as the killer. The work here is complex without a hint of irony or sarcasm. Wilson embodies Vann with the quiet curiosity and empty sections of a soul with the kind of easy-going charm that makes the character so disturbing. The unease that rises through the film is due to Wilson’s perfectly modulated performance. What is even more disturbing is that it’s done with little to no violence portrayed on screen.
Though it isn’t just Wilson and Fancher that are at play here. Fancher’s supporting cast led by the indomitable Brian Cox, and Mercedes Ruehl is as good as Wilson. They are all given roles that defy expectations in a genre that has been mishandled by people far less capable than Fancher at its lowest. It is to be expected that Cox and Ruehl provide stellar performances. The surprise is the considered and wonderful work of both Janeane Garofalo and Sheryl Crow. Crow’s performance amounts to a cameo but it’s as good a cameo as one can expect. It’s Garofalo’s heartbreaking turn as a Postal Worker employee that gives the film its broken soul. The work is surprising as there’s never a moment where the actor is asked to play her “ism” (the same with Cox).
In large part, this is what separates Fancher’s work in the serial killer genre. His eye for what isn’t needed to be said and the power of the unsaid. Rather than spelling everything out like so many since Hitchcock’s Psycho, The Minus Man comes without simple answers or attempts at a pathology about the reasons why. Like Memories of Murder or Zodiac, The Minus Man, finds its narrative outside the norms of the serial killer genre, and it’s better off for it.
The Transfer
The all-new HD Master – From a 2K Scan of the 35mm Interpositive is an impressive upgrade and a beautiful representation of its visual style. The sharp image is free of any dirt, scratches, or any defects through the run time. The transfer is gorgeously luminous retaining all beautiful black and contrast levels without a hint of artificating or crushing of the blacks making the 35mm shot film look beautifully representative of its origins.
The Extras
They include the following:
The all-new Audio Commentary by Co-Writer/Director Hampton Fancher and Producer Fida Attieh, Moderated by Entertainment Journalist/Author Max Evry opens with how they found Owen Wilson. Some of the details include Fancher’s thoughts on the main character and how Wilson’s performance in Bottle Rocket informed on this; what convinced them to cast Wilson – and the process of casting; a larger discussion of casting bigger names like Sheryl Crow, John Carrol Lynch for smaller roles – including Dwight Yokam’s suggest to cast Crow; a larger discussion about Fancher’s relationship Wes Anderson – which resulted in a documentary about Fancher; a discussion of the casting “what if’s” though no real names are named but the discussion of what they were looking for; the casting and performance of Brian Cox – Fancher’s view on working with the actor; an interest fact about Fancher and football; developing and finding the Lew McCreary novel the film is based upon; some of the troubles that he ran into with his debut as a director; the production schedule and budget; the working with Janeane Garofalo – a larger discussion of her professional career; the work of Yokam and Dennis Haysbert; a larger discussion throughout about the actors, casting, and the work of Mary Vernieu; and much more. Fancher, Attieh, and Evry deliver an interesting commentary with Evry ensuring that the track is constantly filled with interesting information about the production and film.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for The Minus Man (2:02); Clay Pigeons (235); Suspect Zero (2:14); The Veil (1:29); Positive I.D. (2:03); Misery (2:22);
The Final Thought
The Minus Man is a minor key piece of filmmaking brilliance. Kino has done right by the film. Highest recommendations.
Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray edition of The Minus Man is out now.
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