HANGMAN. Don’t Let The Filmmakers Fool You

To guess the word your opponent had in mind, you had to be careful not to end up “hanging” — not literally, of course… Yet it turns out that this innocent game has the potential to play a role in a crime story, serving as a way for a serial killer to toy with the police in a deadly game of cat and mouse. The creators of the film Hangman saw this potential — a title which, I suppose, refers to one of the game’s elements: guessing letters.

Unfortunately, finding an interesting narrative use for this popular party game is pretty much the film’s only redeeming feature. The production sinks under the weight of dreadful execution and absurd writing. You might have thought you’d get something that, while obviously inferior to Se7en, could at least offer a fraction of the same thrill? Forget it ever crossed your mind.

Let’s start with what’s most visible. Hangman is yet another geriatric vehicle made for an aging actor, allowing him to stretch his legs, crack his bones, and make a bit of money on the side. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that — until the actor’s name becomes the film’s main selling point, meant to distract from its many flaws. Then the role is stretched to the breaking point, just so the audience can watch their beloved star mumble and stumble for as long as possible. That’s exactly what was done with seventy-seven-year-old Al Pacino, who shares the screen with Karl Urban. They were meant to form a duo of complementary cops leading an investigation — Urban the muscle, Pacino the brains. Sometimes (God help us) the other way around.

But let’s be blunt: Al Pacino just can’t cut it anymore. He staggers across the screen like a wounded, ailing calf, without any clear idea of what emotional direction to take. It’s painfully obvious that he lacks not only energy, but even the ability to convincingly portray simple emotions like anger. At his age, you’re running on one gear — fair enough — but that doesn’t automatically make it entertaining to watch. There’s a song by the Polish band Perfect about knowing when to leave the stage; it’s sad, but it perfectly captures Pacino’s situation. His performance in Hangman is an eyesore, exhausting, and completely devoid of the actor’s former greatness.

Urban, on the other hand, fails to make up for any of these shortcomings — he’s pure deadwood: stiff, flammable, and alarmingly dim. Now I understand why he was so convincing as Judge Dredd. He’s simply not capable of portraying any emotion, let alone delivering complex lines — which also seem to be beyond his reach.

But this ill-matched duo wouldn’t even exist if not for the completely misguided script, full of absurdities. Or rather, three key absurdities that utterly shatter the film’s logic. As I mentioned earlier, the movie follows the hunt for a serial killer whose signature is hanging his victims. Unsurprisingly, given Pacino’s age, he plays a retired homicide detective. The problem is that he actively participates in the investigation — interrogating suspects, examining bodies, and constantly tagging along with the lead investigator — even though, legally, he can’t do any of that. As a retiree, he can only serve in an advisory capacity. That’s the first issue.

The second absurdity is the involvement of a young journalist who, at the start of the film, joins Urban’s character, claiming she wants to “objectively observe police work in America.” Once again — she simply can’t do that. A journalist’s participation in an investigation, especially one involving a manhunt, not only endangers her own life but also risks leaking confidential information and jeopardizing the entire case. There’s a huge difference between following a police officer with a camera during routine duties and actively participating in the chase and solving a criminal mystery.

And then there’s the third issue — the most glaring one. Fair warning: revealing it may (or may not) spoil the plot for some. Roughly halfway through the movie, it’s revealed that one of the killer’s victims was the protagonist’s ex-girlfriend. At that point, any real cop would either recuse himself or be formally removed from the case by his superior. The reason is simple: personal emotions inevitably cloud judgment and affect decision-making. Naturally, the film never even hints that Urban’s character should step down — leading to an utterly predictable finale.

And just so you know I’m not exaggerating, my observations were confirmed by the head of the Press and Information Department of the Public Communication Bureau at the Polish National Police Headquarters. Yes, I actually wrote to ask whether the questionable practices shown in Hangman could ever occur in reality. The response was a firm no — none of the three situations I described could happen in a professional investigation. This isn’t just a matter of stretching logic — it’s an outright insult to the viewer, committed in broad daylight (though inside a dark cinema). The filmmakers tried to take me for a fool — but they failed. Don’t let them fool you either.