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The greatest movie ever made..!

Overrated and overhyped

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is a chilling and interesting insight into the case of Jeffrey Dahmer - a man who committed unbelievably appalling murders. It chooses to focus on the people who surrounded his life leading up to, and after the horrific discovery of the murders. The documentary is able to convey the absolute horror of the situation through interviews with neighbours and detectives. Most of the footage contains interviews with Detective Pat Kennedy - who was initially with Dahmer after his arrest - and you can still feel Pat's utter bewilderment as he recalls the events. You can still sense his adrenaline as he recalls the aftermath and there is a clear sense of excitement within him as opposed to the utter horror one would expect. It's also interesting to see how it affected his life after, in both positive and negative ways. Where I think it falls a little short as a documentary is the lack of clear narration as to what was happening. Due to a lack of actual footage hypothetical re-enactments were used that did well to convey Dahmers apparent alcoholism - but didn't offer much more of an insight into his character and his motivations. I know that this was not the aim of the documentary - but I think it would have added more to help the viewer to try and begin to make sense of witnessing the re-construction of a situation that was inhumanely senseless.

Experimental Jeffrey Dahmer documentary which actually focuses more on the Milwaukeeans during and after his hidden spree. The reenactments are beautifully shot; and Andrew Swant (also the film's co-writer) slides into the monster's skin so smoothly, ultimately humanizing Dahmer without becoming charming or remotely likable. Unfortunately, the three interviewees are not overly appealing, and you can't help but remember that there are many more interesting people who had a thing or two to say about Dahmer. Archival footage included, but is used somewhat minimally. Originally premiered simply as JEFF and was later changed to THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES when picked up by IFC.**½ (out of four)

An experimental documentary film that uses archival footage, interviews, and fictionalized scenarios to tell the story of the people around Jeffrey Dahmer during the summer of his arrest in 1991.I like how they emphasized that Dahmer was a white guy in the black neighborhood, an wish this could have been explored more. Those not familiar with Milwaukee may not realize how incredibly segregated it is.I further appreciated the story of the shirt, and plenty of other behind the scenes details from Detective Pat. Some may find it boring, but I think the idea of Pat just talking for two hours would be fascinating. He probably has other non-Dahmer stories to tell.Using an actor to portray Dahmer was interesting. At first it seemed silly and unnecessary, but I understand why they went with it -- if you do not have the footage, you have to fill the screen with something.

Jeff had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. The film paints an intriguing, even provocative, portrait on a man whose actions place him among pantheon of the most evil figures of our times alongside the Nazis in our collective memory. The use of interviews with a neighbor, a police investigator and a medical examiner paints a compelling picture of the events surrounding the arrest and prosecution of Jeffrey Dahmer. They also show us how the revelation of his crimes affected those around him. The interviews paint a powerful picture and deliver a solid portrait of the serial killer that provides us with interesting insights into Dahmer's twisted mind and personality.However, the other aspect of Jeff is more problematic. The director felt the need to supplemental the interviews by recreating everyday aspects of Dahmer's life using actors to show bits and pieces of his daily life as he shops for stuff that he'll need to carry out his vicious crimes. These scenes present the absolute ordinariness and in-distinctiveness of Dahmer. The phrase that kept going through my mind was Hannah Arendt's famous phrase "the banality of evil" which she used to describe Adolf Eichmann during his Israeli war crimes trial. The director and writers seem to be trying to do something similar in this film. The problem is that in so doing they are taking the dangerous step of merging fact and fiction. It is unclear whether they are attempting to recreate actual events or just imagine how Dahmer might have behaved based on their own speculations. The line between reality and imagination has becomes very blurry when you mix documentation with dramatization.