THE 'X' MAN

Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who did away with 52 people in the 1980s, Citizen X (HBO, Feb. 25, 8-10 p.m.) stars Stephen Rea as Viktor Burakov, a low-level forensics expert called into the case early on. So low- key as to look crushingly depressed, Burakov is a self-effacing hard worker determined to track down the killer. But bureaucracy keeps getting in the way, in the form of Communist party members who are always giving him new or contradictory orders about how he should proceed. Our hero finds an ally in a colonel played by Donald Sutherland, and together they pursue the murderer for nearly a decade, even as Russia enters the era of perestroika. Director Chris Gerolmo does a nice job of keeping us aware of current events while Burakov combs dank forests looking for clues. Toward the end, Max Von Sydow turns in a marvelous cameo as a cranky psychiatrist who interrogates the chief suspect in the case. B+

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