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 There
aren't too many actors who can single-handedly raise the bar on an
otherwise mediocre film, but 3-time Oscar nominee Morgan Freeman is
certainly one who can. In addition to a diverse and acclaimed body
of work that includes The Shawshank Redemption, Seven,
Driving Miss Daisy, and Unforgiven, his authoritative,
intelligent, and embracing demeanor has also added some much-needed
artistic credibility to mindless fluff like Hard Rain, Chain
Reaction, and Deep Impact.
The same can
be said about his latest psychological thriller, Along Came a
Spider. Though it's the second Alex Cross film to be shot, it's
actually based on the first of James Patterson's novels about the
character. While it can be seen as a prequel to 1997's Kiss the
Girls, there is no reference to a timeline, and each film stands
on its own merits. The problem is that Along Came a Spider
doesn't have too many merits to stand on, and despite yet another
commanding performance from Freeman, it's tangled up in a web of
ineffective suspense and twisted logic.
The Senator's
daughter has been kidnapped, and it's up to respected Washington,
D.C. police detective Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) to save the day.
He teams up with Jezzie Flannigan (Monica Potter) -- the Secret
Service agent who was assigned to protect her -- and together, they
get caught up in a battle of wits with the girl's psychotic kidnapper,
Gary Soneji (Michael Wincott). Forget about the money -- this wacko's
in it for the fame (think Robert De Niro in The King of Comedy,
only without the sense of humor!). For Cross, this case is extra-special.
Still guilt-ridden over the death of his partner, he sees this as
a chance for redemption. Will Cross and Flannigan get entangled
in Soneji's complex web, or will they stamp out this pesky spider
once and for all?
Every psychological
suspense thriller to come out since 1995 has been compared to David
Fincher's Seven, and with good reason. Not only was it an
incredibly clever, well-written, and superbly acted movie, but its
gritty style and groundbreaking direction raised the bar on films
of this particular genre (even topping 1991's The Silence of
the Lambs). Films like The Bone Collector and Kiss
the Girls tried to capture the same intensity, but they ended
up more like cheap imitators than worthy successors.
Fortunately
for Along Came a Spider, director Lee Tamahori doesn't try
to capitalize on what's already been done in the visual sense. He
instead relies on clever plot twists to carry the movie, but the
problem is, even that doesn't work. Whereas films like The Usual
Suspects and The Sixth Sense dropped hints of their plot
twists throughout the story, Spider uses them as a way to
fake moviegoers into thinking they've been surprised. The fact is,
they've been duped. There is no rhyme or reason to the progression
of events, the secondary characters are seriously lacking in motive,
and Cross gets way too lucky when breaking down elements of the
crime.
As with Kiss
the Girls, it falls to Freeman to keep the film on track, and
he succeeds to a mild degree. He's a good sport about carrying the
movie -- particularly during a well-crafted cat-and-mouse scene
that could have been lifted right out of Die Hard with a Vengeance
-- but it's too bad that the rest of the material isn't up to snuff.
Monica Potter is a strong enough screen presence and plays well
off a vet like Freeman, but what's particularly incredible is her
resemblance to an up-and-coming actress named Julia Roberts (maybe
you've heard of her). Between her voice, her mannerisms, and her
looks, the similarities are downright incredible (and somewhat frightening).
In the end,
Along Came a Spider takes too many shortcuts at the expense
of logic and believability. As for the future, there's certainly
a lot of potential to the Alex Cross film series, and when a decent
filmmaker finally spins a more worthy web of intrigue, moviegoers
will be rewarded with a Cross film that will keep them stuck to
their seats. As for this itsy bitsy Spider, the rain came
down and washed the spider out.
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