The Alphabet Killer (2008)

Director: Rob Schmidt

Cast: Eliza Dushku as Megan Paige, Cary Elwes as Kenneth Shine, Timothy Hutton as Richard Ledge, Tom Malloy as Officer Steven Harper, Michael Ironside as Captain Nathan Norcross, Bill Moseley as Carl Tanner, Carl Lumbly as Dr. Ellis Parks, Brian Scannell as Jay Castillo, Larry Hankin as Perry, Jack McGee as Hank, Melissa Leo as Kathy Walsh, Andrew Fiscella as Len Schafer, Rocco Sisto as Father McQuarrie, Tom Noonan as Ray Gullikson, Frank Rossi as Francis Baker

Eliza Dushku is the one who delivers in this fairly predictable serial
killer story, reminiscent of such films as "Gothika" and "Jennifer
Eight". There are also a lot of serial killer movie alumni populating
the lesser roles of this film, like Bill Moseley, Timothy Hutton, Tom
Noonan and Cary Elwes. They don't really matter though, because it's
all about Dushku's character Megan Paige and her late onset
schizophrenia which makes it very difficult for her to crack the case
of the Alphabet killer, as well as keep the confidence of her fellow
police officers.

Movies that focus on characters with mental disorders are often
interesting and unpredictable, like Polanski's "Repulsion" or Fincher's
"Fight Club" because they makes the audience question what's reality in
the movie and what's just playing out inside the mind of the main
character. Unfortunately this isn't one of those movies. Instead of
trying to make the audience share in Megan's delusions, they are
clearly separated and labeled to avoid any confusion, or excitement for
that matter. Instead we are made to watch her from the outside and see
her struggling to connect with her colleagues and convince them that
she's completely sane despite her textbook "crazy person" behavior.
Like I said, Dushku delivers a solid performance as a distraught,
emotionally unstable and sometimes delusional police woman. It's just
hard to get invested in her character because of the boring predictable
story she slowly fights her way through.

There is not a single supporting character that comes off as more than
some kind of one-dimensional stereotype. There's the honest cop, the
crooked cop, the former lover, the one true friend, the calm doctor,
the obvious suspect, the creepy priest and eventually, for a brief time
at the end, the killer... non of them with any significant character
development or depth. This movie isn't painful to watch and it's not
poorly made, it just suffers from lack of imagination on the directors
part and some sloppy writing. See it, don't see it... doesn't really
matter.