The Bone Collector

Denzel Washington plays a former cop who is injured in the line of duty and becomes a crime scene investigator and expert witness in the service of law firms. Angelina Jolie plays a cop who is struggling to find a place within a male-dominated police culture, and shows a talent for crime scene investigation, which Denzel's character immediately recognizes and appreciates, since he is bedridden and physically unable to go to most crime scenes. She is reluctant to get involved, but does wind up grudgingly serving as his eyes and ears as they try to follow clues left by a serial killer who gives clues about his next victims and taunts them and the police.

While Denzel's character is almost too brilliant to be believable, if you can overlook that you should thoroughly enjoy this movie. Denzel and Angelina, together with cops of varying competence, try to follow the clues given to them by the serial killer, who gives them clues before the killing actually occurs.

Most people who enjoy a dark, suspenseful movie (such as Silence of the Lambs) should thoroughly enjoy this movie.

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.

Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) is a brilliant police detective and forensics expert who was left a quadriplegic from a job. There's a killer in the city who traps his victims in his taxi cab. Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) is a beat cop who discovers two bodies buried in the train tracks. The investigating detectives (Michael McGlone, Ed O'Neill) enlist the help of Lincoln who in turn enlists the help of Amelia.

This was right before TV show CSI first air. So it had some fascinating CSI bits for the time. But the movie has two problems. It's a minor problem that Denzel is stuck in bed all the time. It restricts his physicality. It also limits the visual dynamics of his scenes.

The bigger problem is the role of Amelia. After all, she is a beat cop without the basic forensics training. The movie is treating this less as a science and more as an inborn ability that an elder can bestow upon a youngling. Also Angelina is so emotional that it's unbelievable anybody would allow her near the evidences. Heck she fires her gun at the rats. What kind of forensics expert is that?

There is no doubt that Denzel and Angelina are big time stars. It's a simple serial killer movie. They're shooting in NYC. It looks good. There is a good movie here. They should have allowed Angelina be a techie, and let Denzel have a wheelchair. That way she's more believable, and he could be mobile with her.

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.

Not being a fan of genre, I appreciated the atmosphere, the acting, the humor and correct crafted tension. And it was just enough for be happy to discover it after good years.

The twist was pretty forced - indeed, I know almost nothing about crime movies - but , like each game, the rules are more significant than the first sight.

Sure, great job of Queen Latiffa and just delightful to discover nice work of rhe young Angelina Jolie.