| The Art Of Dying (1991) Cast:Wings Hauser, Kathleen Kinmont, Sarah Douglas,Michael J. Pollard,Gary Werntz, Mitch Hara Wings Hauser stars as a cop who seeks a serial killer who uses aspiring actors for snuff films, while having a kinky affair with a mysterious yet sexy Kathleen Kinmont, of course it's all not to long before Hauser is forced to rescue his damsel in distress from the killer in this admittedly well made but disappointingly routine thriller. One of my favorite things about PM movies is that they always have ambition, if they fail it's because they tried too hard rather than trying to little, unfortunately The Art Of Dying is one of those movies where everything fails to build to a satisfying closing. Sure everything is there for great results, but Wings Hauser never gets a handle on his plot and instead we are treated to Fade To Black meets 91/2 Weeks, I also must point out that the idea is great for making a movie, certainly there is so much potentional that one is so crushingly disappointed by the collapse in it's last half. The biggest disappointment is the screenplay which never tries to develop any of the characters, it's all written like a mindless bodycount actioner, which is fine if it was full of action but as a thriller you need to work up a little backstory. For instance one of the victims to be is actually saved by Hauser only to get off the bus to try and still make it as an actress, some of it hints at whether her family life is bad but once again the screenplay never tells us and we just have a one-note character ready to be dispatched. Not to mention the serial killer himself, he's just set up as a brute monster with no backstory and indeed no motive except that he wants to be a great director, but why? Even more disappointing is that Wings Hauser and Kathleen Kinmont's characters themselves are set up as cliches, Wings' cop character is one of those on the edge of type and yet once again is given no story to set up why he's so determined to catch the killer at hand. Kinmont always a typically bland actress gives a good performance as the mysterious girlfriend, but as usual there is no meat to the backstory on how they met or indeed who she is, this is frustrating because were supposed to be in suspense when she must be saved by Hauser but we feel indifferance. Yet The Art Of Dying has atmoshphere, the sleaziness as well as the lights of cities is the perfect film noir setting and Hauser directs quite a few scenes with great energy such as a few of the admittedly erotic sex-scenes and murders but his screenplay is so underwritten that none of it ever truly reaches a satisfying conclusion. PM has made great actionflicks like The Sweeper, Last Man Standing and Rage and while those certainly had a few problems in the screenplay stage, the high energy action-sequences all made those so exciting we bought whatever the plot nonsense was, while you can do that with an actioner you can't so much with a film noir thriller like this, while The Art Of Dying certainly goes overboard (Like the actioners) with the gore, thrillers especially film noir thrillers need character development, stories that pay off and well, backstory which sets up the characters. So we know how they tick. That's why The Art Of Dying is so disappointing, it's a movie that looks very well, is acted decently and overall has all the resources to make a great thriller, however it's instead a routine thriller where the cop on the edge must save his damsel in distress from the serial killer at hand. All of the plot threads seem like afterthoughts, and overall so does the movie. D.Wings Hauser ** |