(Heche and Roberts give exquisitely nervous performances.) It’s 1978 when we meet the dead-eyed, picked-on Jeffrey, a time when he was most decidedly in his own world in small-town Ohio: dissolving roadkill in jars for the bones, obsessed with the bearded jogger (Vincent Kartheiser) who routinely passes his house, and avoiding home strife between a jittery mother (Anne Heche) recently out of a mental institution and a beleaguered father (Dallas Roberts) concerned for his friendless teenage son. At its best, when sensitivity and squirmy honesty collide, it feels like a Very Special Episode of “Freaks & Geeks.” Writer/director Marc Meyers’ fine adaptation of real-life Dahmer schoolmate Derf Backderf’s graphic novel - anchored by former Disney star Lynch’s mesmerizing turn peering out of David Soul hair - is more interested in capturing something mysterious, sad, even funny, and eventually terrifying about the edge of 17. Thankfully, “My Friend Dahmer” doesn’t come off solely like a spot-the-clues exercise. Was he obviously insane? Or did he just look like another loner kid who got lost in the caste-like swirl of adolescence? To watch “My Friend Dahmer,” about the high school age Jeffrey Dahmer (Ross Lynch) during the year before he became a killer, then a cannibal, then a household name, one can’t help but put oneself in the position of armchair forensic psychologist. But he’s also confused by sexuality, he suffers under warring parents, and he likes being a class cutup.
![dahmer 2002 cast dahmer 2002 cast](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w780//6ZgIGqKkL4PQRVrOeCIHvUh9rNU.jpg)
He’s fascinated by the insides of creatures.
![dahmer 2002 cast dahmer 2002 cast](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SpMhnqnbh0g/maxresdefault.jpg)
He stares, uncomfortably, and drinks secretly at school. He has the awkward gait of a zombie in training.