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| Directed by Phillip Noyce; Starring Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker, Ed O’Neill, Mike McGlone, Luis Guzmán, John Benjamin Hickey, Leland Orser, Bobby Cannavale, and Larry Day |
Philip Noyce’s The Bone Collector is yet another serial killer film trying to capitalize on the still remaining fan base for Silence of the Lambs. A few films of such have succeeded in my mind (The Minus Man, Se7en), but usually they turn out pretty bad. Take for example Nightwatch, a pretty well acted film, but a horrible screenplay and direction. Then there is the unbelievably overrated Kiss the Girls. Sure it had two performances that stood out, but otherwise it was a predictable mess. That is exactly the same way with The Bone Collector, where the acting of Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie cannot save a script and direction that are from the inner regions of hell.
The Bone Collector is about the search for a serial killer that is killing people who enter his cab. On his tail is Lincoln Rhyme (Washington), an ex-police inspector who is confined to his bed after an accident left his paralyzed from the neck down. His police skills are needed in the hunt, but a hot-shot detective (Rooker) thinks that Lincoln has lasted his time and should remain home taken care of by his nurse (Latifah). Then he finds a patrol cop to help him find the clues to find the killer. She is Amelia Donaghy (Jolie), the officer that found the body of the first victim and showed great power in the stressful situation. The two set out to find the killer and stop him from taking anymore victims.
The film is pretty terrible with direction that was reminiscent of Bats (the rat jumping on the camera still makes me laugh). Noyce is too overly active with the camera, leaving the film in a flux. Washington and Jolie both try, but neither give their best work. I figured out who the killer was by the half way mark because the film is not very ambiguous about information. The ending is one of the worst this year, leaving the finale and the motive as two of the so-bad-it’s-funny moments this year. Thanks to The Bone Collector I’m not going to look too much towards serial killer films for now on.
