Copycat (1995) Dir: Jon Amiel

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As someone who also takes interest in true crime cases and the psychology behind them, I always like to see if I can find a good crime thriller to watch, particularly if it has a detective point of view. This 1995 thriller, directed by Jon Amiel, looked like it would meet the requirements, and having Sigourney Weaver in your cast can never hurt. The reviews are pretty down the middle, but so are plenty of other films that I've ended up enjoying a lot.

Visually, the film didn't really catch my eye, in any memorable way. There was the occasional piece of good cinematography, but the majority of the footage was merely of an adequate standard. It often feels like films can go further with their camerawork, particularly these thrillers, which so often rely on the psychological aspect of their narratives. Either way, whilst I wasn't displeased with the aesthetics of the film, I can't say I was overly impressed either.

I thought the story showed a lot of promise, particularly thanks to a really compelling opening monologue, which set up the rest of the film very nicely. I also thought the majority of the detective inquiry arc was pretty interesting, although it faded a little towards the end. This was, in large part, because of the film's titular killer. Unfortunately, they inadvertently, and despite their trademark, ended up feeling very unremarkable or memorable, especially once the film got into the third act. This was the perfect example of a killer who lost all their intrigue once they appeared on the screen.

It also didn't help matters, that it felt like this film was trying to do what 'The Silence Of The Lambs' had done so well, but with a killer as goofy as many of those in the 'Scream' franchise - and this is coming from someone who likes most of those slashers. It just didn't make for a thrilling conclusion. The film set the killer up to be a serious and sinister threat, but they felt far from it. It derailed the film's momentum quite substantially.

Sigourney Weaver provided a solid leading performance, albeit not one that ever came close to her best work. I've always felt she has a talent for making her dialogue feel important, and she did this to great effect throughout this role too. Meanwhile, I thought Holly Hunter's detective was interesting, and times pretty compelling, but lacked the unique edge that I was hoping for. I enjoyed her performance, though, and she helped to maintain the film's sense of urgency and mystery quite well, even as the rest of the film's quality faded away towards the end.

Harry Connick Jr. was not very convincing, in his antagonistic role - far from it. He felt like the villain of a teen horror, rather than a serious serial killer thriller. The more his character unravelled, the more Connick Jr's performance unravelled with it. Finally, the other key supporting performances of Dermot Mulroney and William McNamara were adequate, but left me hoping for a little more, I must admit.

Overall, this was a thriller of varying quality and execution. It started off very strong, but seemed to fade more and more as it progressed, ultimately finishing with an almost anticlimactic finale, mainly due to the film's highly disappointing and cringe-inducing antagonist. The positive takeaway is that the two female leads were pretty strong, although I would have loved for them to have interacted a little more than they did.