KISS THE GIRLS RATING: 7 / 10 --> Good Movie
Review Date: July 1,1998
Director: Gary Fleder
Writer: David Klass (James Patterson- novel)
Producers: David Brown and Joe Wizan
Actors: Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross
Ashley Judd as Kate McTiernan
Genre: Thriller
Year of Release: 1997
Gary Fleder's sophomore film after THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD (7/10) explores the seedy world of the serial killer.
PLOT: Forensic doctor and cop Cross gets heavily involved in a serial killer's dossier, after his niece becomes one of the psycho's kidnapped victims. Kate also gets nabbed by this lunatic (the self-professed Cassanova), but quickly escapes and teams up with detective Cross to locate her sick captor and the rest of the victims.
CRITIQUE: Eerie, dark and effective serial killer thriller. I like to call it SEVEN (8.5/10) "light". It certainly has a lot of the qualities of SEVEN, with the competent acting of Freeman, a pretty neat and at times claustrophobic directing style, and a decent "who donnit" twist. Mind you, that's about where the similarities end. This film goes deeper into the "backdoor" shenanigans of said killer, and shows his techniques and despicable methods of capture. The scene in which Judd gets kidnapped by the psycho is also very terrifying.
The premise of the film is good, and so is most of the build-up, although I did find some of the methods used to find the homicidal maniac a bit far-fetched, the overall film worked for me on a suspense level. The bad guy was totally creepy and mysterious. The plot twists were good, but admittedly full of holes. And the style and acting in the film was top-notch (I'm also a big Ashley Judd fan, so sue me!).
On the down side, I guess that it was a little too much like SEVEN and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (7.5/10), but without their great plot lines or extreme suspense. Also, the plot did contain many holes, the ending was weak, and Elwes' Southern accent was awful. But overall, it still works as an effective thriller with some thrills, a couple of chills, and a good night of fun stuff!
Little Known Facts: Ashley Judd's mother and sister are country singers Naomi & Wynona Judd. She had a role in Oliver Stone's NATURAL BORN KILLERS (8/10), but it was left on the cutting room floor. The movie does contain evidence that she was in it though. She is fluent in French and once dated Bobby DeNiro, Matt McConaughey, and Mickey Bolton. In the early seventies, Morgan Freeman became widely known for his role as Easy Reader on PBS's educational television program, The Electric Company. Cary Elwes' real name is Ivan Simon Cary Elwes. He was born in London, England.
(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
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