Review of The Bone Collector (1999) by Dave J — 21 Jul 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013.
(1999) The Bone Collector.
THRILLER.
Based on the Jeffrey Deavor novel starring Denzil Washington as top criminologist Lincoln Rhyme and as a result of an accident becomes a paraplegic where he can do nothing except stay in bed 24/7. A murder is discovered, and rookie cop happens to be nearby and volunteers to investigate and she is Amelia Donaghy played by Angela Jolie. Ryme wants her to stick to the case even though she doesn't really want to but is somehow forced into it since it's assumed that these other specific cops generally fumble at collecting and gathering evidence rather than follow Ryme's rules.
Although based on novel by author Deavor, this movie has many visual similarities to the 1991 movie "Silence Of the Lambs" where the Jodie Foster character has to work with the Anthony Hopkins in order to catch a deranged serial killer. In this case, Jolie has to work with Washington and they're great together in much of the film, but they're so many unnecessary scenes of victims being tortured to death when it may have worked more effectively if they showed them as the two stars were solving it. The director Phillip Noyce obviously had to compromise with producers who wanted the audience to feel the same pain as the killer's victims do. I mean, just because it works on some serial killer films, it doesn't mean that it'll work on this film. I mean how can the audience look at the point of view of the serial killer when we don't even know what he looks like in the first place.
2 out of 4 stars.
This review of The Bone Collector (1999) was written by Dave J on 21 Jul 2013.
The Bone Collector has generally received mixed reviews.
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