Kiss the Girls (1997)
A movie review by Michael J. Legeros
Copyright 1997 by Michael J. Legeros
(Paramount)
Directed by Gary Fleder
Written by David Klass, based on the novel by James Patterson
Cast Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, Tony Goldwyn,
Jay O. Sanders, Bill Nunn, Brian Cox, Alex McArthur,
Richard T. Jones, Jeremy Piven, William
Converse-Roberts, Gina Ravera
MPAA Rating "R" (presumably because of violence and profanity)
Running Time 117 minutes
Reviewed at Mission Valley Cinemas, Raleigh, NC (03OCT97)
==
KISS THE GIRLS is a textbook example of how to ruin a good story. Gary Fleder (THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD) directs this torturously sanitized adaptation of James Patterson's bestseller about a D.C. forensic psychologist (Morgan Freeman) who comes to Durham, North Carolina, after his Duke-attending niece goes up missing. Turns out that the D.P.D. (and the F.B.I.) have been sitting on a series of kidnappings and murders, of college girls from all around the area. What Freeman's character surmises is that "Casanova," as he calls himself, is actually a collector who's keeping these young women alive for various sundry, sordid purposes. (And of which the graphic details are nearly entirely omitted. With the exception of a wee bit of gore, the creepiest images in this movie are safe enough to be shown on the Disney channel.) Before long, Freeman's character has a partner-in- crime-control, a medical student (Ashley Judd) who escapes from the kidnapper-killer's underground lair with an assist from some convenient kick-boxing skills. An older black man as an action hero? A slasher victim who fights back?? And the barest whiff of a romance between the two??? Admittedly, this is non-standard fare for Hollywood, which makes the movie's many, many failures all the more regrettable.
On the up side, Morgan Freeman is his expectedly excellent self. He brings the necessary weight to the story and without enduring the humiliation of having to spout one-liners, such as, say, "you've been pasteurized." Ms. Judd, who should be but isn't the other anchor at the story's core, fares far less better. She's a good actress saddled with an only-okay characterization. (In the novel, as I recall, she suffers much more abuse before her escape, which adds an edge to the character that's missing from the filmed version.) And so, with two talented actors at front and center, KISS THE GIRLS never becomes unwatchable-- no matter how hard Fleder tries to kill the non-mood, be it through bozo casting (what the Hell is Cary Elwes doing here?), atrocious southern accents on the part of the supporting cast (what dialect is Brian Cox, one- time Hannibal Lecter in MANHUNTER, speaking in the minuscule role of Durham's police chief?), giggle-inducing shots of the disguised villain, way too many moonlight foot chases, and an underground dungeon that, truth be told, looks more like an amusement park ride than a Civil War-era leftover. Sigh. I suppose that the biggest disappointment is the lack of local color. Short of a shot or two of Duke, Durham, and the RTP, you'd never know that KISS THE GIRLS was filmed around here.
Grade: C-
-- Mike Legeros - Movie Hell http://www.nonvirtual.com/hell/
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