The Bone Collector

I am one of those older folks who doesn't care for the kind of movies that are made these days. As such, my movie watching is generally confined to old classic films ala TCM and AMC. But, I do subscribe to all of the premium channels via DirecTV and, occasionally, watch a newer film if the plot synopsis appears to be one that I may be able to tolerate. I have read all of the previous reviews of this film on the IMDB and find them very interesting. Many of the reviews mention a movie titled "Seven". I have never heard of, much less seen, "Seven". I consider this fact to be a fortunate one because I was able to watch "The Bone Collector" without having to constantly compare it to a previous film. In short, I liked this movie. I was entertained royally precisely because I didn't take the story line too seriously. There was not much time wasted on character development. GOOD !! I don't need to know why the characters became the persons that they are. I simply want them to get on with whatever they must do. Another thing that I liked was the lack of sex scenes, which seem to be almost a necessity it today's movies. The two leads did a great job and their chemistry was excellent. Mr. Washington and Ms. Jolie were very believable. The killer? No big deal. I couldn't have cared less who did the killings. I simply waited for justice to be done. In short, I don't agree with any of the harsh criticism that I have read on this forum. I guess that's because I am a rather down to earth person who has no need to turn watching a movie into an academic exercise, complete with thorough analysis of character motivation, etc.

I loved this movie when it 1st came out re watching it wasnt as good as i remember it but its still a lil better then your avg crime thriller! The killer makes for a good villain i will say it was not a waste of time re watching this movie just not what i remember.

The best parts of this movie are the actors and the suspense. Good performances, especially by Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, and a suspenseful atmosphere highlighted an otherwise routine thriller. The twist of the main character being a quadraplegic was also a plus.

You might like the book better. It provides more insight into the characters and storylines.

*** out of ****

The Bone Collector is a serial killer thriller in the vein of Seven. Here the gruesome deaths are hinted at rather than shown in a gory visceral manner.

Denzel Washington is Lincoln Rhyme, a paraplegic detective now bedridden who needs round the clock care after an accident. Rhyme was a brilliant forensic detective who wrote several books on the subject.

Now his superiors want his help as a maniac pretending to be a cab driver, is abducting victims, torturing and killing them yet leaving clues behind for Rhyme to solve. He is assisted by a rookie cop, Amelia (Angelina Jolie) who acts as his physical being as she goes does the leg work and goes out out to the subterranean dark lairs where the victims have been held.

As the film progresses it almost seems like a chess game is being played with Rhyme, the clues are aimed at Rhyme somehow as if the killer is taunting Rhyme, like they might have dealt with each other in the past.

Director Phillip Noyce uses the film such as Sea of Love as a template for misdirection. It even has Michael Rooker playing a police chief, he played the villain in Sea of Love, initially appearing in a small scene.

However the ending was rather cheesy with some campy lines and the motive of the killer felt like a bolt from the blue. Still it is an entertaining thriller but not up to the standards of Seven, Sea of Love or The Silence of the Lambs.

When NYPD cop Amelia Donaghy uncovers a mutilated corpse she shows a natural eye for detail and preserving crime scenes. When the killer turns out to be a serial killer leaving clues to his next crime, NYPD turn to the paralysed ex-forensics cop, Rhyme to help them piece together the clues. With Rhymes bedridden, Donaghy becomes his eyes, ears and legs as she walks the scenes under his guidance to uncover the trail.

This is a star vehicle - two Oscar winners and some good supporting actors (Luis Guzman, Michael Rooker to name two). However the plot is below the Washington and Jolie. It is the old "killer taunting cops to catch him" chestnut. It is slightly spiced up by the use of forensics etc and watching Washington putting together the logical clues is quite fun - mainly because you get the feeling that you're right there with him and that it all makes sense. However most of it doesn't makes sense, a lot of the forensics is bull and relies of coincidence or Washington dragging facts from the back of his head. This is a shame because it feels like the film is just being lazy at times and is cheating us out of logic. This laziness feeds right through to the ending - if you thought that the Scream films were lazy and stupid wait till you see the stupid ending to this! Up till this the film does have plenty of horrible scenes and lots of tense bits with Jolie walking round in the dark with the killer potentially just round the corner.

Jolie is good and deals with her character well - despite the fact that a beat cop would never just be able to become a crime scene officer on the whim of an ex-cop. Washington deals well with his character being paralysed for the whole film but does get a bit silly at the end where he fights the killer with just his head! Support is fine - but Guzman is not as good as he usually is.

Overall this is a B movie that got an A movie budget. The film is dark and tense but ultimately a bit lazy and blows it totally with a stupid lazy conclusion.