After terrorizing Wichita, Kansas for thirty-one years, the police led by weary, yet determined Detective Jason Magida (the always excellent Robert Forster) manage to track down and apprehend vicious and calculating serial killer Dennis Rader (a chilling and convincing performance by Gregg Henry).
Director Stephen Kay, working from a compact script by Tom Towler and Donald Martin, relates the gripping story at a steady pace, grounds the premise in a believable everyday reality, and effectively captures the stark horror of Rader's atrocious acts in a tasteful, yet still potent and upsetting manner. However, this film's crowning achievement is the uncanny and unsettling way it depicts Rader as a seemingly harmless and amiable guy who was even a pillar of his church community as well as a complete sadist whose out-sized ego and narcissistic need for attention ultimately proved to be his undoing. The fine acting by the top-rate cast keeps the picture on track, with especially praiseworthy contributions from Maury Chaykin as cagey writer Robert Beattie, Michael Michelle as Magida's loyal partner Detective Baines, and Donna Hoodhand as Rader's sweet unsuspecting wife Paula. Both Boby Bukowski's crisp cinematography and the rattling score by Tree Adams are up to par. Worth a watch.
Director Stephen Kay, working from a compact script by Tom Towler and Donald Martin, relates the gripping story at a steady pace, grounds the premise in a believable everyday reality, and effectively captures the stark horror of Rader's atrocious acts in a tasteful, yet still potent and upsetting manner. However, this film's crowning achievement is the uncanny and unsettling way it depicts Rader as a seemingly harmless and amiable guy who was even a pillar of his church community as well as a complete sadist whose out-sized ego and narcissistic need for attention ultimately proved to be his undoing. The fine acting by the top-rate cast keeps the picture on track, with especially praiseworthy contributions from Maury Chaykin as cagey writer Robert Beattie, Michael Michelle as Magida's loyal partner Detective Baines, and Donna Hoodhand as Rader's sweet unsuspecting wife Paula. Both Boby Bukowski's crisp cinematography and the rattling score by Tree Adams are up to par. Worth a watch.