The Killer

With our CD sale done, I can catch up on some movies and TV I’ve watched.

The Killer was a must-watch for me because of David Fincher. Is he the best director working today? He’s like Kubrick in that, good or bad, you have to see everything, because his look is so specific and technically perfect, it’s breathtaking—and super educational.

It’s an odd movie, though. It’s sort of like an anti-movie. It’s like Fincher said, “To hell with Hollywood. My protagonist won’t change. He won’t learn anything. He’ll just kill people.”

We’re so conditioned to the “redemption arc” of the killer meeting the orphan, or the girlfriend, and opening up his heart and letting somebody in, and ultimately learning the meaning of humanity and sacrificing himself for something bigger than himself...

Nope, not here! He just kills people.

It’s at once refreshing...and a little disappointing. Because as relieving at is that you don’t have to go down the same old road of the killer making mistakes and setting himself up to be killed because he’s taken somebody under his wing—well, there’s no real suspense. There are no stakes.

But it is one hell of a style piece.