Mindhunters

Rating R Formats DVD Genre thriller Starring Val Kilmer, LL Cool J, Christian Slater, Eion Bailey, Kathryn Morris Directed by Renny Harlin Publisher Buena Vista Home External Links Official Site

Renny Harlin owes us all an apology. An apology to everyone for his abomination known as The Exorcist: The Beginning, a film that takes the concept of a beloved horror classic and drives it so far into the dirt that it may never recover again. But let's face it, Harlin was never one to deliver a compelling story that blends with character development and proper narrative. He's all about the action and in some cases he succeeds (Die Hard 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight) and in others, he fails (the film mentioned above, Cutthroat Island and Driven). His latest film, Mindhunters, which was shot in 2003 and not released until May of this year, takes a somewhat different approach than his other pieces of shi...I mean work.

In Mindhunters, seven FBI profiler trainees are given their final training exam. Their instructor, the hard-edged and overbearing Jake Harris (Val Kilmer) places them on a deserted island where they, in a simulated exercise, must "profile" a serial killer without the use of forensics, witnesses, etc Among this group are J.D. Reston (Christian Slater), their appointed leader, Sara Moore (Kathryn Morris), a trainee with a tragic past, Vince Sherman (Clifton Collins Jr.), a disabled trainee who ALWAYS has a pistol on hand, Lucas Harper (Jonny Lee Miller), a prodigy who is not as fearless as he claims to be and Gabe Jensen (L.L. Cool J), a top-notch profiler who is there to mentor and guide the protégés.

What starts off as a test to earn their right to be called profilers turns into a very real, very deadly situation. The simulated killer turns out to be real and he (or she) just may be lurking within the team. Everyone is paranoid! Nobody can trust anyone! Who is the killer and what is the motive?

Renny Harlin's first crack at the psychological thriller genre is a blend of suspense and, a genre that Harlin is definitely no stranger to, horror. Some of the filmmaking elements used in Mindhunters can also be found in two of Harlin's earlier works, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Child and the vastly underrated Prison. It's actually a very stylish film with dark overtones and shocking scenes of gore The "whodunit" narrative, an element that has been used since the days of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, keeps the viewer's attention on the film and leaves them guessing over and over again. However, this is where the buck stops.

Despite being an entertaining film, Mindhunters lacks in common sense and general logic On the other hand, I can't really think of any other Renny Harlin film that shines with these two qualities. On top of that, a lot of the "suspense" scenes (as well as the multi-dimensioned climax) drag on to the point where you no longer care what the payoff for waiting is. Screenwriter Wayne Kramer (who wrote and directed The Cooler, an excellent film) hops on to the forensic bandwagon and delivers a general, but not exactly factual (you want something akin to factual then put on any of the prime time TV crime dramas), account on how these professionals do their thing.

The performances in this film aren't exactly memorable. The two veterans, Kilmer and Slater, pull off a couple of "phoned in" efforts. On the other hand, Kathryn Morris comes off very strong and, at the same time, fragile in her role, perhaps the best performance in the film. L.L. Cool J, who has worked with Harlin before, has probably the most over-the-top performance, trying to come off as cool and badass when he actually exerts cheesiness and unintentionally laughable moments.

The special features on this DVD are nothing to go crazy over. All we get are three short documentaries: one that is a general "making of" featurette, one that focuses on the stuntwork, and one that centers on the production design. You also get a rather bland commentary track from Harlin. Like I said, nothing too exciting.

Despite the aforementioned flaws, Mindhunters is an entertaining popcorn film and probably the best work Harlin has done since 1996's The Long Kiss Goodnight. It's Agatha Christie-style of narration, along with its horror elements, are enough to keep the average viewer satisfied. However, unless you are some sort of psychological thriller aficionado who has to every have every film of this kind in your collection, I see this film as nothing more than a simple Friday night rental.