It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

I've never thought much of Robert Pastorelli, though I am sorry for the way he ended but for me Pastorelli just didn't have any grip. He seemed at his (adequate) best in Murphy Brown but in every other role he just never seemed to be convincing, this series was no exception either.Nevertheless, it was a great dis-service to him to cast him in an almost word for word American production of the great British series 'Cracker'. It was an insult to the original and to the poor actors doomed to the series and makes me wish that the USA would either stop doing this sort of thing or get better at adapting 'stolen ideas' to better suit the new world. The story lines, situations, attitudes and social structure didn't translate well to America and the sort of reprehensible but brilliant lead which was perfect for Robbie Coltrane needed someone with more intensity than Robert Pastorelli. Coltrane is bigger than life (even when he's not playing Hagrid) and most anybody would pale in comparison as Fitz.

Like others, I'm spoiled by watching the brilliant original. This movie is a near line-by-line re-creation of a Cracker episode. But it is done without the scene-setting and great asides from the original. Interstingly, they took some lines Fitz says to Judith at the end of the original and has him say them to Nina. The sexual tension between Fitz and the Panhandle character is absent and awkwardly comes into play at the end. Might be worth seeing for an early Makiska Hargatay police work. Or Josh Hartnell. Both don't show up in the IMDb credits.Still, pretty much a waste of time if you've seen the original. The Fitz character lacks the believability of Robbie Coltrane.

I wanted to comment in response to the many negative reviews of this compelling show written by those who enjoyed the original British series. While I unfortunately missed that series, this American version is dynamic, penetrating and entirely undeserving of being cancelled. Robert Pastorelli gives a daring, captivating central performance as Fitz, the cynical and self-destructive anti-hero whose gambling obsession and rough persona alienate his wife (Carolyn McCormick) and son (a young Josh Hartnett!) Fitz' demented persona make him a natural for his part-time work as a police profiler, where he maintains a tenuous relationship with the equally blunt Lt. Fry (R. Lee Ermey). Fitz is an intriguing fallen hero - up to the task of catching disturbed, violent murderers but unable to command his own inner demons which tear at the very fabric of his being. Pastorelli's intensely uncompromising performance gives the show a realistic, darkly humorous edge which is ultimately touching. Fitz' character foreshadows that of Frank Black (Lance Henriksen), whose dark, telepathic gifts cost him his family on Chris Carter's equally compelling crime series 'Millennium." Both characters need the close embrace of their families - it is what they live for - but because of their disturbing professions and intense persona's alienate their loved ones, spiritually self-destructing even as they desperately seek redemption. While this Cracker may have fallen short of the original English series - I wouldn't know - it was a breath of fresh air on typically sanitized American television and ultimately proved to be too daring to continue.

Robert Pastorelli played one of the most horrible bad guys I have ever seen in Striking Distance. That scene where he terrorized Sarah Jessica Parker in the end gave me chills. This man is a truly fine actor and he did a very good job on this show that was unfairly cancelled. I usually like for the heroes in a film to be 100% likable, but Cracker was a sort of an anti-hero. He was a brilliant psychologist, but a troubled and flawed human being. Robbie Coltrane was awesome in the English version. Pastorelli did a excellent job filling Coltrane's shoes. I also enjoyed R. Lee Ermey in the series. He was in one of my favorite movies, Full Metal Jacket. Everyone has an opinion and I think this show was too quickly cancelled. Its a shame.