Recently re-viewed this film again, and was struck by the direction, overall intriguing performances and suspense throughout.Owen Wilson gives a surprisingly real performance as complex and tortured character,Van, an aimless man with serious issues. As the story develops we see his splitting-off persona, and fictive characters (well-portrayed as police detectives,i.e.; His alter-egos).His pathology is never fully explained, even as he tries to psychoanalyze himself with voice over narrative.A brilliant film written by Hampton Fancher.First decent suspense film I have seen since Hitchcock.Highly recommended. 10/10.

This movie with a strong cast that I never heard of popped up on a cable movie channel tonight. I loved the promise of the basic plot, but the way Owen Wilson's character was presented (he comes across autistic, learning disabled, and asexual) makes it totally laughable that he would be crafty enough to formulate the rationale and resources to kill people.I'm surprised that Wilson didn't see what was happening during filming and demand a new direction with his character. He's terrible in this. I wonder why this flick suddenly pops up on high rotation on the cable movie networks. Wilson surely wants to forget about it. Jeanane Garofalo is pretty entertaining in it. So her fans should watch it, and maybe film students who want a good chuckle.

I woke up in the middle of the night and knew it was useless to try to get back to sleep immediately. This was on. Yes, it stars Owen Wilson, who is definitely a minus man for me, but it was shown at Sundance, so I gave it a shot.It was certainly different. Not the usual serial killer type of movie. He also just arranged things and watched them happen. he never really seemed engaged in killing and he often fantasized about getting caught.So, why, you may ask, did he do it? Good question, and, no, I don't really know the answer.I did get to see Janeane Garofalo, so it wouldn't be a total loss. I was worth watching, even at 2 am.

Watching this movie, you will most probably start thinking about other titles. I'm my case they are Psycho, Arsenic and Old Lace, A Shadow of Doubt, A Beautiful Mind and The Night of the Hunter. I also had to think of Todd Solondz' Palindromes. The Minus Man is successful where Palindromes dismally fails; in creating a setting which is located between everyday reality and the dreamscape of personal imagination.The main character comes out of nowhere and vanishes there again. In between horror invades the proverbial Smallville USA. Evil probably never had a gentler appearance. It is useless to explain what happens and why, as this is not a movie which wants to explain anything.The story is seen from the perspective of a mass murderer. Something is terribly wrong with this meek, likable young man. He sometimes faints, has regular and recurring visions, suffers from a split personality - and likes to kill people. You are never sure if what he perceives is reality or figments of his imagination. Most people he meets act at times very strange and unnatural, even the way he sees objects is often very unsettling (the big, diamond shaped glass pane in the entrance door of his „adoptive parents" is one of the scariest things for me in this movie).What to me seemed unique in Minus Man is the way the disturbed man deals with the fact that something is wrong: He just seems to integrate everything into his everyday routine. Even the recurring dreams of Kafkaesque interrogations by a racially mixed team of some kind of investigators are faced with a cool, detached demeanour. In a strange, scary way the man seems to have found peace with himself and his condition. Others will have to pay with their lives.The Minus Man boasts an ensemble cast that is simply awesome. For some reason the female parts made a particularly deep impression on me, especially Mercedes Ruehl as the „adoptive mother" and Alex Warren as the supernatural state trooper. Janeane Garofalo is really cute and easily the most uplifting character of the movie. Watch her bungalow – it seems to come right out of a children's book of fairy stories.