Dahmer (2002) - Jacobson's flawed serial killer movie lives on strong performances

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Jeremy Renner looks at us with a reddish eye on a poster for David Jacobson's Dahmer that obviously tries to attract audiences with a clear resemblance to the poster for Ridley Scott's much larger cannibal hit movie Hannibal (2001)

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Dahmer presents an unchronological portrait of the notorious Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in a series of scenes from his disturbed life that showcase his alienation, early sexual disturbance and extreme antisocial tendencies.

Dahmer, the second feature by writer-director David Jacobson (Criminal (1994)), starts out promising with a possible metaphor in Dahmer's employment at a chocolate factory, but the scenes have no follow-up.
After watching the film one can't claim to understand the title character any better, and the film is not very informative as a biopic might have been. It seems to conclude that Dahmer's murder sprees abound in something to do with sexual perversion and intimacy issues, which make him kill, but this also remains fairly unclear.
Dahmer still retains interest due to the fine performances in it: Jeremy Renner (The Immigrant (2013)) is outstanding in the title role; Bruce Davison (Words and Pictures (2013)) is good as his father, and Artel Great (The Soloist (2009)) is charismatic and excellent as Dahmer's victim Rodney, whose experience with him provides the film its through-line. The film has its share of troubling scenes, rightly so, SPOILER of which particularly the one with the head in the father's old boxes is a kicker.

In lieu of a trailer for the film, which is not currently on Youtube, here's a 90+ minute edit of the real-life trial of Jeffrey Dahmer. Be advised that this is not only informative about Dahmer but also, naturally, highly troubling

Cost: 0.25 mil. $
Box office: 0.14 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Dahmer was released June 21 and runs 102 minutes. It was shot in LA and Milwaukee with the names of the victims changed out of respect. Renner was chosen because of his likeness to Dahmer, and his performance won him his Oscar-nominated part in The Hurt Locker (2008). Dahmer opened #55 with 16k $ in North America in 2 cinemas, topping later in 5. It was released straight-to-DVD in most other markets. Great and Renner were nominated for Independent Spirit awards for their performances in the film, which was also nominated for the John Cassavetes award at the event. Dahmer is fresh at 68 % with a 6.4 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

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