Hangman dies a quick death at the box office

posted in: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery | 0

Movie Title:    Hangman

Grade:  C
Rating: R
In a Nutshell: Al Pacino.  There’s THAT.  This is the eighth time he has played a police detective.  

The old-school child’s spelling game, Hangman, held promise for a good thriller, but the movie disappoints in a pretty mediocre paint by numbers who-dunnit.
 
Uplifting theme: 
  • “Sometimes finding out the truth leaves scars.” – Christi Davies (Brittany Snow)
  • “Scars tell stories.” – bad guy (I don’t want to tell you who that is!)
  • Revenge
  • Friendship
Things I liked:
  • It was refreshing to see Brittany Snow in a hard-hitting murder mystery, after seeing her in fluffy, fun movies like Pitch Perfect By the way, the 3rd Pitch Perfect movie hits theaters in 3 weeks!  I confess, the franchise is a guilty pleasure for me.
  • Karl Urban plays Detective Ruiney as well as he does “Bones” in Star Trek Into Darkness , although “Bones” is definitely a more interesting character.
  • I first noticed the beautiful, tough Sarah Shahi when she starred in Person of Interest: S1-5.  Her real name is Aahoo Jahansouz and she’s a descendant of a real Persian Shah.  Cool.  Unfortunately, she seemed too young to be cast as the captain of the police department.


Things I didn’t like:
  • Typical bad guy monologue at the end.
  • The cops never take the time to try to figure out what the hangman letters mean.  It seems like they could have plugged them into a computer to consider various options.  You get to see what the letters spell out towards the very end, but no one even mentions anything about it.  Missed opportunity there.
  • Silly ending.
  • The whole plot feels contrived and forced with annoying plot holes.
Tips for parents: 
  • This is NOT a family-friendly film.
  • F-bombs and other profanity.
  • Lots of bloody, gruesome deaths.
  • Naked chest of some dead women.
  • Paintings of naked women.
@trinaboice 
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Author, university professor

Author of 23 books, university professor, mom of 4 awesome sons, movie critic, ice cream lover. Check out her world travels and tips at www.EmptyNestTravelHacker.com

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