Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Hangman

A thriller to pass the time with, nothing else.

Hangman

Grade: C+

Director: Johnny Martin (Delirium)

Screenplay: Michael Caissle (Hunter’s Moon), Charles Hutinger (

Cast: Al Pacino (The Irishman), Karl Urban (Star Trek)

Rating: R

Runtime: 1h 38m

By: John DeSando

“You want this thing to make some kind of sense? That's not the world.”  Detective Ray Archer (Al Pacino)

He’s right: The Hangman, now streaming on Netflix, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense either, nor does the dialogue given to that Oscar winner came anywhere near Pacino’s capability. Early on in this tepid serial-killer-police procedural, Archer’s vintage car is sideswiped, so he pursues the swiper despite warnings that he may have a bomb, to which pursuer Ray replies, “Sunovabitch just ruined my car.”

That’s the best I can come up with for smart lines in this “Se7en” wannabe, and it’s a dumb line and response to a lethal situation that a retired cop should instinctually back away from. Yet, Pacino didn’t back away from this weak thriller either, so life imitates art.

Although a serial killer with a pattern of hanging his victims and carving signs on their carcasses might incite thoughts of Silence of the Lambs, Hangman feels more like Mary Had a Little Lamb with music by the numbers. Although Karl Urban as Pacino’s partner Det. Will Ruiney tries his best to bring heft, and he would be capable in any other movie with that square jaw and imposing height, but alas here is his best line: “Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?”

It gets better when they’re joined by a visiting journalist, Christi (Brittany Snow), who parries back to inquiries about her eligibility for this dangerous job, “I’ve been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.” No actor gets off well except maybe wheelchair-bound, tough Captain Watson (Sarah Shahi), who is the smartest cop in the room even if her character is mistakenly underdeveloped.

Although the drama has moments of success as the cops figure the Hangman’s pattern, such bright scenes are eclipsed by the formulaic chases and false leads. Thus, if you don’t mind anticipating the reveals and can put up with inane dialogue, this thriller will keep you occupied for 98 min while the real killer is outside your room providing ample bodies per day until the real detectives, the scientists, figure out a way to stop it.

Netflix is on our side through it all, wins and losses.

John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JohnDeSando62@gmail.com.

John DeSando holds a BA from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in English from The University of Arizona. He served several universities as a professor, dean, and academic vice president. He has been producing and broadcasting as a film critic on It’s Movie Time and Cinema Classics for more than two decades. DeSando received the Los Angeles Press Club's first-place honors for national entertainment journalism.