Mikometer Rating: 7 of 10
I read William Goldman, in an article detailing his involvement writing the screenplay for the film "Hearts in Atlantis", offering that the two greatest living actors today are Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman. I would have to wholeheartedly agree. Whenever I see either in a performance, I know that there was never a case with either of them where they "phoned in" the performance. In the adaptation of James Patterson's first Alex Cross thriller, "Along Came A Spider", Freeman plays Alex Cross for the second time, and just watching him, as has been said a thousand times before by other observers, is like studying acting with the masters.
Freeman has played the part of Cross before, in the otherwise forgettable "Kiss the Girls" (1997) which to me was just another "Silence of the Lambs" ripoff, and came so soon after his masterly turn in "Seven" that for me, the character was essentially the same. Besides, not liking the movie "Kiss the Girls", but admiring both Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd (it was her first 'action' thriller) made the experience even more forgettable because they just couldn't save it.
With that in mind, of course, the arrival of "Spider" at the multiplex in June '01 gave me no cause to see it. The acting of anyone cannot overcome the unassailable feeling that this would be a carbon copy of all I didn't like in the first movie.
Surprise. I was wrong.
I thouroughly enjoyed "Along Came A Spider", and this is a very salient point seeing how it was the very first action thriller I veiwed (at home, on the bigscreen on a DVD rental) after the Sept. 11 tragedy. If any thing had been out of whack, I would have hit the eject button so quick the mechanism would probably have broken. That not being the case, I not only enjoyed the thriller, the excellent acting of Morgan Freeman, and the interaction of the cast, but the plot as well, even though it probably had enough holes that if I hadn't have enjoyed it so much, would probably have stopped to think, and found sizable questions to ask. I am writing this "review" a couple of weeks after seeing the movie, and as with all films I view, the plot is the most disposable element, and the first to go from my mind anyway. (The better to enjoy it's unspooling next time I view the movie)
Alex Cross is introduced in a "sting" operation involving his female partner, who dies tragically when the operation goes wrong, as it almost always does in these kinds of movies. Cross "retires" and has retreated to his writing (the character is a psychological true crime writer, as well as an investigator) and building model ships at home, when the mastermind behind the kidnapping of a senator's daughter from the heavily secured school she attends calls him on the phone, asks for his involvement, and sends him the girl's shoe as a vital piece of evidence, which spurs him to reenter police life.
Some of the plot twists and turns in this film, as I pointed out above, are somewhat questionable, but the script, by Marc Moss, and the direction, by Lee Tamahori, who also directed a little seen indictment of an early Los Angeles police "special force" called The Hat Squad in "Mulholland Falls" with Nick Nolte, do an estimable job of commanding our attention, and not letting us be put into a situation where we are asking too many questions. In fact, I will say that I found, upon first viewing, the plot to be free of most loopholes, and each question for me was answered by the script later on.
In a movie where you really don't want to "quess" that events are what they seem anyway, this comes again as a plus mark for the motion picture.
The kidnapped girl's personal special security agent at the school, Jessica Flannigan, played by Monica Potter, whom I've never seen in a movie before, although she was in "Head Over Heels" and "Patch Adams", feels somewhat ineffectual after failing to do her job, and "teams" with the reluctant Cross as his partner in the case.
The kidnapper, who has delusions of grandeur big enough to fill the Grand Canyon, is only using the kidnapping as a means to become a great criminal mastermind. Michael Wincott plays Gary Soneji as a slimy obsessive nut, and is one of those villians the audience loves to hate.
I mentioned that this was the first movie of a "thriller" nature I saw after our country was hit with the Tragedy of Sept. 11, when so many movies of this type have been put on hiatus, or scrapped altogether. I wish to use this forum as a means to say a bit about why I don't believe entertainment should be slighted in the long run. Granted, there will be a long period of shock and mourning for the deaths of over 5000 people. But time passes, and divergences are always needed to take us away from the hard lessons that life always plays. A good movie, even if it is a thriller like "Spider", contains thoughts and observations which help impact our grief, and help to dispel such feelings at times.
I didn't personally know if I were ready for a movie that easily fits in with the genre of terrorist thrillers and serial killer films. That I did enjoy it nonetheless is proof that when acted well and when these little observations are on the money, the film, no matter what the subject matter, does deserve to be seen. And let me point out that "Spider" certainly doesn't deserve any oscars, it is a routine programmer that could as easily be an episode of the "The Alex Cross Files" as an individual movie.
I made a note while watching the DVD. There is a point where Alex and Jessica are having a conversation. Alex says to Jessica, "You do what you are."
She says, "Don't you mean you are what you do?"
"No," Alex says. "You do what you are. You're either born with a gift, or through your life you'll get good at something, and you should always involve yourself in what you're good at. Dont take it for granted and don't betray it because if you do then you betray your self and thats a sad thing."
I don't know if this line, which I somewhat paraphrased, is from the book, but with Morgan Freeman dispensing the advice, I listened as if I were in the room alone with him.
The collective funding effect of seeing this film is one of enjoyment. It's a roller coaster ride I will get on again.
The presence of Morgan Freeman elevates it, if not to art, to at least greater aspirations than a mere thriller.
I now want to see "Kiss the Girls" again to see if my initial impressions were wrong.
Mikometer Rating: 7 of 10 'Along Came A Spider' "R"
Morgan Freeman: Alex Cross
Monica Potter: Jessica Flannigan
Michael Wincott: Gary Soneji
Penelope Ann Miller: Elizabeth Rose
Michael Moriarty: Sen. Hank Rose
Mika Boorem: Megan RoseA David Brown/Phase I production, in association with Revelations Entertainment, released by Paramount. Director Lee Tamahori Producers David Brown, Joe Wizan. Executive producers Morgan Freeman, Marty Hornstein. Screenplay Marc Moss, based on the novel by James Patterson. Cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti. Editor Neil Travis. Costumes Snja Milkovic Hays. Music Jerry Goldsmith. Production design Ida Random. Art director Sandy Cochrane. Set decorator Elizabeth Wilcox. Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes.
Review written and copyrighted 2001 by Michael F. Nyiri
