i'm still trying to figure out how to look at the minus man . either it's supposed to be a dark , black comedy , or it's supposed to be a thoughtful , pensive drama/thriller a la sling blade . and it has so much going for it . owen wilson , who was so great in films like bottle rocket . janeane garofalo , who i like pretty much universally . hampton fancher , who adapted the screenplay for blade runner . what's not to like ? the minus man takes as its premise that your average , thirtysomething , white male is the most likely serial killer around . vann ( wilson ) fits the profile perfectly , a quiet , blonde , super-polite drifter who poisons people at random . the town of owensville is no different , as vann randomly offs people , narrating to himself along the way along with two imaginary cops . there's a romance of sorts , with garofalo as a postal worker smitten with vann , and her screen time turns out to be the only stuff worth watching . the rest of the film is interminable , boring , and ultimately plotless , meandering from scene to scene with no discernable direction . frankly , i gave up on the minus man after 30 minutes . turned out there were 90 more to go . i don't know what the ultimate point of this film was supposed to be . that there are crazy people all around ? that life and film can ultimately lack meaning ? that rock stars ( crow ) can do whatever they want ? that once-great actors and writers can produce junk now and again ? 
