Review of The Bone Collector (1999) by Filipeneto — 22 Sep 2019

A one-time thriller that is tiring and was clearly poorly done and poorly written. Only Angelina and Denzel's performance can be saved.

This film focuses on the figure of Lincoln Rhyme, a prestigious former forensic investigator who withdrew after an accident in service that left him quadriplegic. Sick but far from invalid, he remains a valuable ally of the New York Police, who seek to consult him in more difficult cases. This happened when street police Amelia Donaghy found a body in an unusual crime scene, carefully staged to leave messages about a new murder yet to be carried out. Unable to move, Rhyme will use Donaghy's eyes, ears and police skills to investigate the crime without leaving home.

Okay, we've seen a lot of similar things since there are literally a lot of movies focused on police investigating killers who want to be discovered and leave messages on their crimes. But the problem with this movie is not the lack of originality, but the laziness, sloppiness and illogicality of the whole story. Never could a former police officer conduct an ongoing investigation, and even if that were possible, he would never do so from his own home (to give an example of the illogic I referred to). The whole investigation, including Jolie's crime scenes, sounds fake and forced, with evidence coming out of sheer luck or because the character happened to recall a fact that later becomes relevant. But if we are able to ignore or lessen this, the movie will roll all the way to the end ... that's when things really get off track for one of the worst endings I've ever seen in a thriller movie. Pure non-sense.

Ultimately, it is the satisfying work of Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie that saves the movie from being truly evil. The two actors are two lost pearls in this movie, never having the space or material to reveal all the potential they undoubtedly have. The supporting cast gives some strength to both actors but also has no space or material to substantially improve the film. Technically, it is a regular movie, which does not stand out for the positive and even has badly filmed scenes so dark that they become unpleasant to look at.

In short, this movie is a poor and careless thriller, made without the care it should have had. I'm sure Angelina and Denzel won't have fond memories of him. It's a one-time movie, falling into oblivion after seeing how bad it is.