The 27th of January, 1973 in the small town of Ottawa, Michigan. Dee McGuire, a young mother, is abducted by a stranger during a shopping trip into town. Despite searching extensively, the police & the public fail to find any trace of her. Six weeks after, her body is found near a farm. She had been raped & shot three times in the back. Despite an exhaustive investigation, where Detectives Lynn Kendall, Ben Bannister & David Sheridan chase down every possible angle & every lead, they come up frustratingly short. The suspects all have solid alibis & their limited forensic skills at the time fail to produce conclusive proof. The murder weapon is found but is too rusted to be test-fired. And to top that, the main suspect is killed in a motorcycle accident. The case goes cold for nearly twenty-four years before DNA testing & a chance lead on the rusted murder weapon lead the detectives in charge of the case onto whom they believe is the killer.
An Ordinary Killer is an attempt to showcase, in an era of police television procedurals that place an emphasis on scientific forensic techniques that look flashy but disregard human investigative skills as antique, what things were like back in the days when DNA testing was unknown & the most advanced forensic testing that was available at the time was basic blood grouping & fingerprints. The film's title might put a lot of people off because of its inherent dullness but it actually is an interesting effort that, despite the slow pace, manages to put a more human dimension on the detectives who worked hard on this & other cases (the film was based on a true story), the killer only being caught due to a chance lead.
While the film's concept might be well, ordinary, & the pace is a little on the slow side, the cast all give good performances. DJ Perry's lead might have the habit of talking to himself at times, but everyone manages to deliver the right kind of performance for the production at hand & you'll know they have the right man for the crime when the killer uses a familiar line that is used in a flashback.
An Ordinary Killer is an attempt to showcase, in an era of police television procedurals that place an emphasis on scientific forensic techniques that look flashy but disregard human investigative skills as antique, what things were like back in the days when DNA testing was unknown & the most advanced forensic testing that was available at the time was basic blood grouping & fingerprints. The film's title might put a lot of people off because of its inherent dullness but it actually is an interesting effort that, despite the slow pace, manages to put a more human dimension on the detectives who worked hard on this & other cases (the film was based on a true story), the killer only being caught due to a chance lead.
While the film's concept might be well, ordinary, & the pace is a little on the slow side, the cast all give good performances. DJ Perry's lead might have the habit of talking to himself at times, but everyone manages to deliver the right kind of performance for the production at hand & you'll know they have the right man for the crime when the killer uses a familiar line that is used in a flashback.
