Hangman

The prologue of this meaningless whodunit directed by stuntman-turned-actor Johnny Martin shows retired homicide detective Ray Archer (Al Pacino) sitting in his vintage car, doing crossword puzzles in Latin (because he was once an altar boy). Suddenly, he’s sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver in a blue truck. After a high-speed chase, the culprit is caught. Flash forward one year as Ray becomes involved in a string of grisly, gruesome murders committed by a vicious serial killer who strings up his victims and, using their corpses, carves alphabet-letter clues using the titular word game. Apparently, Ray’s badge number and that of his stoic buddy Will Ruiney (Karl Urban), whose wife was murdered a while ago, were found whittled on a classroom desk in a school near the first victim’s body. Although the setting is Monroe, GA, joining them is intrepid New York Times investigative reporter Christi Davies (Brittany Snow), who was once nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, although her ride-along presence is obviously unwelcome. The trio’s sleuthing becomes even more urgent when they realize that there will be a new victim every 24 hours, unless they can somehow follow the clues and capture the psychopathic perpetrator. Saddled with stereotypical characters and an illogical and inanely convoluted script, Hangman relies on fast-paced action scenes to distract from the idiotic banter that passes for dialogue here and the lame police procedural plot. Not recommended. (S. Granger)