Copycat

Intelligent and crackling with crisp, provocative visual energy, Copycat, the new thriller starring Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter, is so creepy and dangerous-feeling that it's like a knife edge pressed against the jugular.

Ending is on the conventional side, more so than anything else in the picture , but script by Ann Biderman and David Madsen keeps the tart surprises coming throughout most of the picture with only occasional lapses into red herrings and artificial manipulation.

Copycat is as steady and reliable as a pulse and as exhilarating as a surge of adrenalin.

The screenplay for Copycat, by Ann Biderman and Jay Presson Allen from a story by David Madsen, is otherwise so crackling good that character development threatens to eclipse the actual crimes.

By having Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter play the maniacs' feisty antagonists, the filmmakers seem to believe that they've made a significant feminist statement, the movie's two hours-plus of almost continual sadistic abuse of women notwithstanding. Even in an industry known for self-delusion, that is quite a feat.

The plot would seem more ingenious if the movie itself didn't copy so many other thrillers (notably "The Silence of the Lambs"), and if it weren't so easy to spot every twist half an hour in advance.

Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver, a cop and a shrink, are the main trackers, but so little is done in Ann Biderman and David Madsen's script to give them or their colleagues or even their prey interesting human dimensions that the overall ambience is chiefly pornographic.

The first hour is really strong – a mysterious serial killer is on the loose in San Francisco, copying well-known murders. How can he possibly be caught?The second hour then unfortunately degenerates into a 90s psycho killer revue full of logical holes, over-the-top performances, and clumsy staging.Further thoughts:- All the male cop supporting characters could have been safely eliminated. They contribute nothing to the plot (other than cheap soap opera drama).- The director simply lacks a sense of suspense (see, for example, the scene where Sigourney Weaver discovers the red dress on the bed).- You can do the killer reveal this early, but then you should have more in store for the rest of the film than just having Weaver's character make one idiotic decision after another (Why does she open the door at the end? Is she really that stupid?).- On a positive note, I'd like to mention the solid camerawork by László Kovács and the score by Christopher Young. Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter are so great together that they carry this film. The inclusion of the baby internet was also somehow very likeable.Conclusion: A wannabe serious thriller with plenty of 90s charm that would be better suited to the sleaze genre. Thanks to the two leading actresses, "Copycat" remains entertaining enough for a cozy thriller evening.

Copycat is a medium quality thriller. In addition to the excellent acting game Sigourney Weaver. The plot is very prolonged, there is almost no suspense, it appears only in the last third of the film. Twists hardly work. The trailer and cast gave hope for a good thriller of the 90s. Received from viewing not what I expected

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William McNamara, Harry Connick Jr, Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter star in this thriller mystery type film that basically see's one killer behind bars and another out there copying serial killers of the past. Sigourney Weaver plays some agoraphobic Doctor named Helen Hudson who is targeted by the killer as well as other innocents who lose their life but Helen Hudson strangely enough lives to tell the tale because she's saved by a few bullets from Holly Hunter's gun at the end that kill the copycat killer. I'd say it's an average or below average film and to me I think William McNamara is a great actor and Holly Hunter but Sigourney Weaver is pretty bad in this film to the point where she's unlikeable and you've no sympathy for her character. She's annoying at times and Harry Connick Jr is amusing at times and others weird and I did like this film but as time worn on you look at other great films such as Alien, The Terminator and even decent thrillers such as Frantic, The Fugitive and other great films and Copycat doesn't even make a dent on them and seems poor in comparison. There's blood in Copycat and violence and a killer who uses bad language and there is even a few shootings but that alone doesn't qualify it to be a decent film. Made in 1995 where there were great films coming out such as Martin Scorsese's Casino you'd think Copycat would of been better but sadly it isn't. Very disappointing.