MOVIE REVIEWS and excerpts "Occasionally a movie about murder transcends its subject matter and becomes something close to art. John McNaughton's HENRY certainly did. And so does David Jacobson's chilling, brilliant, DAHMER, about yes, the Milwaukee-based gay cannibal. . . more The only gay movie protagonist in recent years whom I've identified with is the titular antihero of David Jacobson's exceptional biopic Dahmer. Whether this reflects on the state of contemporary gay films or merely my own psychological shortcomings is debatable, but with Dahmer, Jacobson has achieved the unthinkable. . . more OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN THIS HAUNTING FILM BASED on the life of yet another Wisconsin serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer (Jeremy Renner), with a look of fascination on his face, places his ear against the rib cage of the young man he's just murdered, straining to hear . . . more Writer-director David Jacobson's stunning semibiographical film picks up the trail of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (Renner, who gives an incredible performance) as he smoothly snares, drugs and murders an Asian youth. . . . more Rethinking the serial killer movie in every respect,David Jacobson presents a powerfully cool visualizationof a gruesome life in "Dahmer." By de-dramatizing theactions of Jeffrey Dahmer, America's most ghoulish massmurderer, and by refusing to serve up easy psychological motivations or any standard exploiter devices, . . . more "Dahmer" is as notable for what is doesn't do as it is for its accomplishments. Rather than opting for the conventional laundry-list approach, ticking off familiar, well-documented events, writer-director David Jacobson has taken a decidedly less sensationalistic. . . . more One day a team of detectives could come to your door and ask for your cooperation. “We’re surveilling your neighbor,” they’ll say, “Because we suspect that he’s a serial killer.” “I never heard anything so nutty,” you’ll reply. “The guy is a perfect gentleman. . . more By no means could “Dahmer” be called an overly pleasant moviegoing experience. Yet writer-director David Jacobson manages to turn what might have been a ghoulish wallow into a fascinating character portrait.. . . more Yes, it's that Dahmer, and Jeremy Renner, the young actor who plays him, gives a spectacular performance. Renner, with greasy bangs and a stare that might appear oversensitive if it couldn't stretch a minute into eternal zombie hell time, suggests a spookier Tobey Maguire. . . . more A low-key but hypnotic portrait of the infamous sex murderer and admitted cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer, who was convicted in 1992 of killing 16 men and was beaten to death two years later by a prison inmate. Inspired by Lionel Dahmer's 1994 book A Father's Story, writer-director David Jacobson has created a serial-killer film unlike any I've seen before . . . more Writer-director David Jacobson gets major points for reticence in his biopic of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Most of the nasty business takes place off-screen, the script is bereft of sensationalism and sticks fairly close to the truth . . . more It’s no skin off my nose, but I’m going to go out on a limb and review a dramatic feature film for the first time in my illustrious career as a critic. This film is worth it. . . . more In his chilling and slight docudrama of Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, filmmaker David Jacobson eschews gore and the sensational. . . . more Not exactly the feel-good movie of the summer, Dahmer's peculiar charms are subtle things more in line with Hannibal Lecter's brooding intellectualism than Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer's offhanded brutalities.. . . . more Although 20th-century America was, sadly, full of serial murderers, few achieved the notoriety of Jeffrey Dahmer. One reason for this surely is Dahmer’s prolific body count; another was his choice of victims. . . . more The name Jeffrey Dahmer brings up gruesome images, usually involving mutilated masculine genitalia. As someone who clearly passed through much of his life as The Boy Next Door. . . . more I confess to having had little enthusiasm for seeing "Dahmer," a film about everybody's favorite real-life ghoul. But. . . . more Dahmer is so contemplative and languidly paced that it's tempting to be flippant and call it a slice of life. But this look at one of the country's most notorious serial killers deserves to be taken seriously.. . . . more When you’re watching a movie, it’s nice to say, "Man, I really know what that guy/girl is going through." . . . . more Could any movie be less potentially appetizing than a biopic about Jeffrey Dahmer? Our fascination with serial killers is arguably a symptom of the same disease that. . . . more It says a lot about the sorry state of the indie film scene that a movie as unnerving and powerful as Dahmer - a drama about the life of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer - had to be financed mostly out of pocket by its director and producer. . . . more Considering the morbid fascination that Jeffrey Dahmer's case inspired, a biopic was probably inevitable. Thankfully, writer-director David Jacobsen has interests beyond bloody exploitation. . . . more Based on the life and crimes of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, this intelligently directed drama explores the troubled man's personality without claiming to have psychological explanations for his horrific actions . . . more