Movie Type: Psychological Thriller, Police Detective Film
Themes: Woman In Jeopardy, Serial Killers, Haunted By the Past
Main Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, Dermot Mulroney, William McNamara, Will Patton
Release Year: 1995
Country: US
Run Time: 120 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A serial killer stalks the streets of San Francisco; unlike his many predecessors does not choose a distinctive, identifying pattern. No, this killer prides himself on his unoriginality: he is a copycat, recreating the violent murders of some of the country's most notorious serial killers, his heroes. On the case, is criminal psychologist Helen Hudson who is the reigning expert on serial killers; she has also become agoraphobic after having too close of a brush with killer, Daryll Lee Cullum. Though he has finally been locked up, she is unable to function outside her apartment. It is homicide detective M.J. Monahan and her partner Ruben who involve Hudson after they begin suspecting that the recent rash of bizarre murders they investigate is the work of a new mass murderer. Using her career and her vast knowledge, she figures out the killer's game. She knows he is well-versed in history and that the killings are tributes to the old masters. Unfortunately, she cannot predict his next style of killing, who he will kill, or when. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review
After the phenomenal success of 1991's Silence of the Lambs, serial killer movies aspired to avoid "typical" grisly killings, instead devising the cleverest murders possible. 1995's Seven had its arty killer referencing classical literature; that same year, in Copycat, the killer mimics the famous real-life murders of the Son of Sam, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Ted Bundy. The stylish, pretentious Seven was by far more successful at the box office, but in fact, Copycat is a more likable thriller. Though the script is often unfocused and implausible, it features a functional mystery, and director Jon Amiel (responsible for the divine British mini-series The Singing Detective) creates much tension by balancing character-building scenes with the action. There are very good performances all around: Sigourney Weaver, in a part similar her role in Death and the Maiden, is typically skillful; but it is Holly Hunter and the Frank Sinatra-esque Harry Connick Jr., playing a hillbilly killer, who stand out the most. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Harry Connick, Jr. - Daryll Lee Cullum; Bill Bonham - Photographer; Terry Brown - Cop 2; James Cunningham - Hal; J.E. Freeman - Quinn; Tony Haney - Kerby; Danny Kovacs - Kostas; John Rothman - Andy; Stephanie Smith - Disturbed Tenant 1; Victor Talmadge - Head Waiter; Kelvin Han Yee - Chinese Detective; Rob Nilsson - SWAT Commander; Brian Russell - Coroner's Man; Donald West - Attorney; Charles Branklyn - Doc; Scott W. de Venney - Cop; Christopher Beale - Tech Guy; Jay Jacobus - Judge; Ron Kaell - Mac; Corie Henninger - Jogger; Anthony Moore - Uniformed Policeman; Hansford Prince - Fred; Diane Amos - Gigi; Bob Greene - Pachulski; David Ferguson - Dock On-Looker; Russ Christoff - Commissioner Petrillo; Kenny Kwong - Chinese Kid; Shannon O'Hurley - Susan Schiffer; Rebecca Klingler - Peter's Wife; Kathleen Stefano - Peter's Mother; Kelly De Martino - Festival Girl; Robert Benscoter - Disturbed Tenant; Gena Bingham - Victim In Car At Gas Station; Edith Bryson - Landlady; Jeni Chua - Michelle; Richard Conti - Harvey; Thomas J. Fieweger - Bodger The Cop; Katherine Fitzhugh - Disturbed Tenant; Arlon G. Greene - Jogger; Vincenetta Gunn - Screaming Woman; Floyd Gale Holland - L. Bottemy; Bert Kinyon - Burt; Lee Kopp - Haircut Man; Damon Lawner - Festival Dude; John Charles Morris - Young Peter; Doug Morrison - SWAT; William Oates - Man In Corridor; Keith Phillips - Felix Mendoza; Dennis Richmond - KXBU Anchorman; Tahmus Rounds - Landis; Nick Scoggin - Conrad; Johnetta Shearer - Paramedic; David Michael Silverman - Mike; Eleva Singleton - Paramedic; S.J. Spinali - Disturbed Tenant; Stuart W. Yee - Thug
Credit
Chris Seagers - Art Director, Kerry Barden - Casting, Billy Hopkins - Casting, Suzanne Smith - Casting, Joseph M. Caracciolo, Jr. - Co-producer, Claudia Brown - Costume Designer, Matthew Carlisle - First Assistant Director, Jeffrey Wetzel - First Assistant Director, Hilbert Hakim - First Assistant Director, Richard Oswald - First Assistant Director, Jon Amiel - Director, Jim Clark - Editor, Alan Heim - Editor, John Fiedler - Executive Producer, Christopher Young - Composer (Music Score), Stephan Dupuis - Makeup, Jim Clay - Production Designer, Laszlo Kovacs - Cinematographer, Tony Pierce-Roberts - Cinematographer, Arnon Milchan - Producer, Mark Tarlov - Producer, Catherine Davis - Set Designer, R. Bruce Steinheimer - Special Effects, Chris Newman - Sound/Sound Designer, Chuck Picerni, Jr. - Stunts, Frank Pierson - Screenwriter, Ann Biderman - Screenwriter, David Madsen - Screenwriter
After giving a guest lecture on criminal psychology at a local university, Dr. Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver), a respected field expert on serial killers, is cornered in a lavatory by one of her previous subjects, the incurable psychopath Daryll Lee Cullum (Harry Connick, Jr.), who kills a police officer in front of and brutally attacks her. She becomes severely agoraphobic as a result, sealing herself inside an expensive hi-tech apartment, conducting her entire life from behind a computer screen and assisted by a homosexual male friend, Andy (John Rothman).
However, when a new series of murders spread fear and panic across her home city of San Francisco, each crime scene an imitation of a preceding serial killer's modus operandi, tough tomboy detective M.J. Monahan (Holly Hunter) and her partner Reuben Goetz (Dermot Mulroney) solicit Helen's expertise. Initially reluctant, the doctor soon finds herself drawn into the warped perpetrator's game of wits, especially when she realises that she somehow figures quite prominently in his master plan. As the weeks draw on, the elusive assailant draws inspiration from more classic killers including Albert Desalvo, The Hillside Strangler, David Berkowitz, Peter Kürten, Ted Bundy, Edmund Kemper and Jeffrey Dahmer.
The film received a 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it "fresh." Critic Roger Ebert awarded it three-and-a-half stars out of a possible four, citing Holly Hunter's character as one of the year's most complex and engaging film creations.
