The Bone Collector (1999)

Genre


Director


Country


Cast

Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker, Mike McGlone, Luis Guzmán, John Benjamin Hickey, Bobby Cannavale, Ed O'Neil, Leland Orser

Plot

When a badly mutilated corpse is discovered by policewoman Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie), quadriplegic ex-homicide detective Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) is asked to investigate the case. At first he refuses, but when he takes a close look at the evidence, he is intrigued and tries to track down the serial killer with the help of the young policewoman.

Opinion

The Bone Collector is a way too much pretentious film that fails pretty much on everything. 

Looks like the film is trying to imitate Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window - in this case Denzel Washington plays James Stewart, and Angelina Jolie plays Grace Kelly - and, at the same time, David Fincher's Seven. The result is a too weak plot and some ridiculous parts. 

A huge issue - or mistake - with this film is the serial killer. As I am in the process of writing a mystery novel, I learned that there are several things the story must have to be good. One of those things - the most important in my opinion - is being able to lead the audience into finding out who the killer is. This film totally fails in that. I would have bet the killer was a cop - one in particular but I won't spoiler - but at the end is just some guy barely shown in the film with a weak motive. 

The fighting scene is the queen of ridiculousness: the serial killer, which is so smart to elaborate perfect murders, can't beat a quadriplegic man.

Denzel Washington does a very good job as the paralyzed cop. Unfortunately I can't say the same thing about Angelina Jolie: she looks bored the whole time. The supporting cast helps a lot, with great performance from Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker and Ed O'Neil.


Quotes

Lincoln Rhyme: Destiny is what we make it.

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10 comments :

  1. Stories.26 April 2015 at 14:17

    Anch'io ho trovato molte somiglianze con il capolavoro di Hitchcock - uno dei migliori film di sempre, a mio parere. Nel complesso, tuttavia, ho apprezzato questo film anche se non gli darei più di una sufficienza. La Jolie irritante come sempre >.<

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    Replies
    1. Sonia Cerca26 April 2015 at 14:27

      La Jolie sembrava recitare con una pistola puntata alla testa! Assolutamente orrenda!

      Delete
    2. Stories.27 April 2015 at 18:57

      Aggiungerei 'come sempre' ma qui soprattutto ;)

      Delete
  2. Sonia Cerca26 April 2015 at 14:27

    Thank you Abhijit!

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  3. Dell26 April 2015 at 15:41

    I remember liking this when I saw it back when it came out. I am a different viewer now and the things you point out make sense. I'm curious to see what I think about it now. Great review.

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  4. Maja K26 April 2015 at 19:40

    This is probably the first blog about movie reviews I came across- and I like that you don't write on only recent movies :) Followed you via gfc, if you want you can check out my blog and maybe follow back. xx Maja
    - http://majasmuffin.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Sonia Cerca27 April 2015 at 15:02

      As I post everyday it'd be hard reviewing only new film, but it's a great opportunity to catch up on old films I kept on saying I would have seen but didn't

      Delete
  5. esplendidavida@gmail.com27 April 2015 at 08:33

    Intentaré verla. Gracias!

    ReplyDelete

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