The Bone Collector (1999)

Starring - Denzel Washington; Angelina Jolie; Queen Latifah; Michael Rooker & Mike McGlone Director - Phillip Noyce MPAA - Rated R for strong violent content including grisly images, and for language. As action/suspense movies go, this is one that ranks above average. But, make no mistake about it -- it isn't quite in the same league with movies like Seven or Silence Of The Lambs, although, it does try very hard to get there. Including generous use of grisly, but not overly gratuitous, scenes featuring butchered dead bodies. Denzel Washington plays Lincoln Rhyme, a police forensic specialist who had suffered a spinal injury several years before which left him a quadriplegic. Rhyme now only has movement from his neck up and limited movement in his little finger. But even though he is no longer able to go into the field, he still has the best investigative mind around and is called upon frequently by the New York Police Department in serious cases. This is one of those cases. A serial killer called The Bone Collector is posing as a cab driver and kidnapping people. He then brutally kills them and leaves little clues with the butchered bodies, taunting the police to put the pieces together and find him before he kills again. Angelina Jolie plays a young officer who finds one of The Bone Collector's victims and impresses Rhyme with her natural ability in forensics. So much so, that he shanghais the reluctant woman into joining him on the investigation. She is to serve as his eyes and ears in the field while he talks her through the investigation from his bed. No surprise that the investigation takes her to some of the deepest recesses of New York City on her mission to stop the killer before he strikes again. First, let me say that Phillip Noyce did an excellent job of directing The Bone Collector. Like the movie that this is most easily compared to, Seven, much of the action takes place in dimly lit areas. Unlike Seven, which seemed to take place in a perpetual rainstorm, it is abandoned subway tunnels and decaying buildings that give The Bone Collector it's feel of impending death. A great soundtrack also helps to darken the mood considerably. Washington may have given his best performance ever in this film. It is truly a credit to his abilities that he plays such an integral and interesting part in this movie based solely on his facial expressions and tone of voice. But as good as Washington is, this is Angelina Jolie's movie. This is really Jolie's first major starring role and she carries the movie beautifully. The fact that she is one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood doesn't hurt either. Am I the only one that thinks she has the most amazing lips ever? Washington and Jolie also have a great deal of help from the supporting cast. Michael Rooker (Cliffhanger) is Jolie's nemesis, the head of the police forensics department, and plays up the character's arrogance to the hilt. Queen Latifah also does a solid job in her fairly small role as Rhyme's personal aid. The two biggest surprises would have to be Ed O'Neill and Luis Guzman. O'Neill plays the lead detective on the case and gives a performance that I never would have expected from the man best known as Al Bundy. But the biggest treat was Guzman as Eddie, an NYPD forensic technician. He had some of the best one-liners in the film and stole just about every scene that he was in. My only complaint with him was that he didn't get more screen time. The comparisons between this film and Seven are inevitable, and very understandable. But The Bone Collector is more than able to stand on its own besides the obvious similarities. If I had one major complaint, it would be the film's ending. Without giving anything away, I thought the choice of the killer was a bit weak, and the ending was just a bit too formula for an otherwise clever movie. I haven't read the novel by Jeffery Deaver upon which this movie is based, but I have read the sequel, The Coffin Dancer. Knowing how clever that book was, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that The Bone Collector lost a little something in the translation from the page to the big screen. Regardless of its flaws, The Bone Collector is still a great movie. The story is entertaining, albeit a bit gory in places; and the directing is superb. But the best reason to check out this movie is for the cast. All the performances are bang on and Jolie shows why she is an actress to watch in the coming years. 8/10 Reviewed November 11, 1999 by Joe Chamberlain