Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

A Major Disappointment

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This film tells the story of a young man who moves to a town and takes up lodging with a unhappily married couple. The town gradually is plagued by mysterious murders, and residents can do nothing to stop the streak of untimely deaths.To be honest, I could not quite get into the story of "The Minus Man". Owen Wilson is too handsome and innocent looking for me to believe that he is a serial killer! His motives of killing are unclear to me either. There is no thrill, suspense or mystery in the film. The characters sail through the story, and there is nothing for me to hold my breath for. I find this film a little disappointing, as it could have been a thrilling mystery.

Very little went into the thought of this movie. The job he gets is more than far fetched. Just stroll in and get a job with the Postal Service and just read the book and you can deliver mail. I laughed at this whole premise. Please before you make a movie do some research. That Postmaster was laughable...I need to shrink routes for the holidays. And what was counting the flyers????? A complete unrealistic joke. research research research.... What serial killer is that sociable and amiable?? I have to admit I have never like Owen as an actor. Maybe it's his accent. Says he is from Texas but it sound like a valley boy. OMG!! I can't believe he is delivering mail in a LLV for curbside delivery and getting out of his vehicle with a mailbag to deliver. Who wrote this crap?? This movie gets a F for Failure to research.

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.

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.