(I'm a little tipsy as I write this review. Which leads me to believe Epinions should ask for the reviewer's state of mind when writing. Drunk? Stoned? Angry? Happy? Depressed? Manic? Melancholy? Ecstatic? Just got dumped? Just met the person of your dreams? All are crucial to understanding the essence of the critique. Anyway, I'm digressing, and I haven't even started the review!)
So. _The Minus Man_. Yes. With a "the." (Epinions doesn't seem aware of this. But I digress. Again.) The marketing folks have intellectually oversold this with "Conversation usually follows" and "Don't bring a dumb date." Feh. If you apply too much thought to the proceedings, you'll uncover a threadbare plot and contrived set ups that don't really make sense. You're better off going with the flow.
It's saying something that I wasn't bored throughout it's 110-minute running time--I have a mild form of attention deficit disorder that often leaves me frustrated with movies about 20 minutes in. Though this isn't an intense, taut thriller. More a meandering chronicle, sprinkled with some compelling set pieces that maintain the viewer's interest.
This is not to say it's a good movie. It's not. It doesn't really go anywhere, (kind of like this review), it's characterizations are woefully thin, the acting simply competent. In retrospect, what kept me engaged were Vann Siegert's delusions of FBI interrogation--disarmingly off-kilter enough to snap you back to attention.
Owen Wilson, the star, does this interesting pursed-lips-thing throughout the flick. Mercedes Ruehl is surprisingly attractive as the tightly wound woman of the house where Siegert rents a room. Janeane Garafolo is unfortunately wasted in a one-note characterization. The filmmaking is competent, but uninteresting.
Though not a waste of time, there are definitely better things to do on a Saturday night. Like drinking Scotch.
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