Customer Reviews

Gray Man

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

What an incredible depiction of those horrible events. The story (and DVD) are very cut and dry, no additions or dramatic overtones/liberties taken with plot lines - just a solid portrayal of horrendous events.

The story follows Albert Fish towards the last 10 years of his life as he devolves into the convicted homicidal cannibal. The police end of the story is concise and centers mostly on the lead detective King, who intermittently narrates his part of the film. Bauchau's display of Fish appears to be very authentic, down to the painful self mutilation he became known for. Even the supporting roles were abrupt but relevant for the film.

The camera work and period recreation were done articulately, and there was never a time of picking apart cityscapes or props. Nothing distracts from the overall story, even when it came time for there to be chances for gory scenes, they instead chose to go with suspenseful angles and figuring on the viewer would know what happened. The sound is unfortunately 2.0 and DVD is devoid of anything supplemental. Typically, films that cover these topics have at least epilogues, informative supplementals, period design pics, etc. But nothing here. The cover art is frustrating as they keep trying to push this as a Hannibal Lecter attachment, but this stands on its own. The R rating is strictly for themes as almost everything is assumed (no actual butcher/bloodbath footage or kids in distress - like Changeling).

I have been somewhat of a true crime reader for a while . THIS MOVIE is VERY accurate of what is known to have happened .I think this is one of the best ( If not the VERY best) adaptation from real life to film that I've ever seen ., I can't praise this Movie enough !! It puts you right there in that era , Like You are a witness to this sad,and unfortunate part of Our history . Buy this for Your collection !!!

The Gray Man (Scott Flynn, 2007)

Interesting if minor film about one of America's most notorious serial killers and the manhunt that brought him to justice. Flynn's first (and to date last) directorial effort, and it shows, but there's actually quite a bit to like here if you're willing to look under the amateurish hood.

Albert Fish (Patrick Bauchau, recently of 2012) is the nice, if kind of creepy, guy next door. That is, unless you have a small child. Then he becomes the not-so-nice, really creepy guy next door, because he wants to have your tots come over for dinner. As the main course. Fish also has himself some pretty nasty anger issues, which he usually vents in long, rambling letters to the local papers. As we pick up the story, Al is on the hunt for a new victim, when the law gets a whiff of what he might have been up to. This is the law in the form of Will King (Fast and Furious' Jack Conley), the kind of obsessed detective you find in just about every serial killer movie (if you were one of the unfortunates who saw The Black Dahlia, you know what I mean). With the cops hot on his tail, Fish spots what he believes to be his perfect victim: Grace Budd (Lexi Ainsworth, currently taking a turn on General Hospital). Parallel tracks run in the movie as Fish seduces Grace and the cops close in on Fish.

Fish was right in at least one respect; Budd was his perfect victim. It was her murder for which he was put on trial and executed. As such, it does make sense for the movie to focus on his relationship with Budd and her family (though despite the movie's R rating, it soft-pedals pretty much every aspect of that relationship), though that leaves a gold mine of known and suspected information about Fish to be mined for future films. In any case, as I said before, this is Flynn's first directorial effort, and it shows; it stumbles on a fairly regular basis in at least one aspect (pacing is a big one here, to the point where every once in a while it seems Flynn doesn't quite know where to end a given shot), but the acting from the principals and the material is strong enough to make this at least worth watching. Recommended for serial-killer biopic fans. ***

This was a great movie - such a shame I never saw it in the theatre. Quality acting and story line... very happy with my purchase.

THE GRAY MAN isn't the complete story of Albert Fish. It is mostly about his encounter w/ the young girl named Grace Budd in 1928, and the horror that ensued. Fish's life story is well-documented elsewhere. This is more of a cat-and-mouse, police procedural / drama. Patrick Bauchau is very good as Fish, a seemingly kind, gentle old man w/ astonishingly lethal proclivities. THE GRAY MAN is an excellent starting point for further study of this disturbing man, as well as being a first-rate psycho-drama...

There is a great movie to be made in the story of child serial killer and cannibal Albert Fish. This stinker ain't it.

I find Albert Fish to be an interesting subject. I was looking forward to this movie and then I watched it and....well...it is really boring. It also leaves out some of his more perverse and interesting quirks. The movie has Albert Fish acting "odd" once his children are adults. However, he acted odd way before that. Once his wife left him for another man...he fed his children raw meat but only on full moons. Albert's letters to women asking if they would like to participate in his perversities were also left out. Plus his paddle wasn't mentioned...The narration of the movie with the detective taking over was very annoying. The narration sounded like some cheesey gumshoe from a film noir rather than an officer to be taken seriously. The pace of the movie was slow and at times it didn't seem that time passed then oh yeah it did. It was very disappointing and lame.

To see the true story, and an even more graphic depiction of events, see the film: Albert Fish, In Sin He Found Salvation.