Hangman

A cheapo Seven knock-off that one would be tempted to suggest is beneath the talents of everyone involved, but they knew what they were getting into when they read it.

In its own cheesy and entertaining way, Hangman kept me guessing throughout.

With a dirge-like pace that provides ample opportunity to figure it all out well ahead of the protagonists, you keep wishing somebody would buy a vowel to hurry things along.

This formulaic thriller is m_di_c_e.

The most and least that can be said for "Hangman" is that it doesn't approach the mesmerizing ineptitude of "88 Minutes," another movie that pitted Al Pacino against a serial killer from about a decade ago.

You may not take a single frame of this movie seriously, especially whenever Pacino is shuffling around, waving a gun and talking like he's desperately in need of a mint julep.

Lord save me from screenwriters who don't know how to end their movies with dignity.

Watch in the right frame of mind and "Hangman" is occasionally diverting; you may well enjoy spotting the cliches and tropes. But the story is hackneyed and the final twist one that will make you sigh rather than scream.

...the script...gives these actors very little to work with and makes this film laughably cheesy and cliched at times.

Take every murder-mystery you've ever seen, highlight all of the overused one-liners, add the head patting sexism toward the female characters, sprinkle on boring dialogue, bake it into a spoof of a detective story and you've got Hangman.