Starring Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, Dermot Mulroney, Harry Connick Jr., William McNamara, J.E Freeman, Will Patton

Effective. Suspenseful. Strong.

After a violent attack by a psychopath, Dr, Helen Hudson (Weaver) is traumatized and rendered agoraphobic, never leaving her state of the art apartment. A year later, a serial killer terrorizing San Francisco makes a point of involving Helen. She notices that the killer is copying a different infamous slaying with each murder, reluctantly teaming up with detectives Monahan (Hunter) and Goetz (Mulroney). The female leads give strong performances and the film’s biggest strength is their fully rounded characters. Apart from that, Copycat is by-the-numbers but well done. It’s an interesting premise that delivers; gripping and suspenseful.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

(552)

Starring William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Joanna Pacula, Brian Dennehy, Ian Bannen, Richard Griffiths

(6-Good Film)

Solid. Intriguing. Unsurprising.

In Soviet Moscow, Police Detective Renko (Hurt) investigates the brutal murder of three young civilians. It looks like a KGB job, but why would the KGB have any interest in the three deceased? Renko uncovers a conspiracy that involves American businessman, Jack Osborne (Marvin), and is drawn in by the mysterious beauty, Irina (Pacula), who has ties to the three murdered. Very solid thriller despite its generic mystery plot thanks to a strong cast, an exciting femme fatale in Irina, and a fresh setting (Soviet Russia). The English speaking cast all affect Russian accents which are a little silly if you think too hard about it.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

(514)