The Postcard Killings

This movie is essentially an "airplane read" in celluloid form. It should come as no surprise, since The Postcard Killings is based on the novel The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund. It's great for absorbing your attention for the time being, but there isn't anything particularly innovative or groundbreaking about it. The moments of New York detective Jacob Kanon (played effectively by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) grieving as he tries to make sense out of the senseless and grisly murder of his daughter reveal more than the minimum required for the audience to root for his pursuit of those responsible. However, these moments are counterbalanced by the kind of stock dialogue always spoken by stock detectives who are willing to do whatever it takes to catch the bad guys, rules and bureaucracy (European bureaucracy, at that) be damned.

Those looking for escapism through an action thriller won't be disappointed. The acting is very good, and the major plot twist should throw many for a loop, assuming they don't see it from a mile away. It's just that, even with the graphic imagery of the murder victims -- with severed body parts, drained of blood, and posed to look like art masterpieces -- there's nothing especially memorable about the movie. Nonetheless, it's a movie that will help you forget that you're stuck on a flight to, say, Orlando, surrounded by mouse-eared tourists and their shrieking kids.