Bone Collector

An extremely overlooked film in my opinion. Yes, Se7en and Silence of the Lambs absolutely annihilate this, but for a 90's detective case it's rather compelling. This is what happens when you cast two great leads, a decent film is produced. Much like any other serial killer story, our main characters must find out who the homicidal maniac is before they kill again. The difference is, the forensic expert is paralysed and so he trains an unwilling rookie to solve the case. Murder case aside, it's all about passing on knowledge and skills to another peer in order to complete a task. Rhyme is unable to do anything, so he envisages his own image within Amelia. Turning her from a rookie cop to the perfect forensic investigator. Highlighting the importance of communication and trust. Fortunately Washington and Jolie have decent on screen chemistry. Both their talents put together to create an explosion of raw acting. Jolie plays a tough yet vulnerable officer, Washington juxtaposes this with an experienced performance. The two amalgamate to create the perfect crime solving entity. The crime scenes themselves were visceral and not easy watches, particularly being scolded to death by oncoming steam. I loved the gritty realism that is sustained throughout. It evokes a sense of mystery, we are attempting to solve the case with the characters. Supporting cast were good, nothing outstanding. Although I wanted more Queen Latifah! The killer's reveal was a letdown unfortunately. The final twenty minutes were rushed to what was an intelligently paced thriller. And thank God we don't have those horrible slow motion frames that were all so apparent in the 90s...just hideously generic. The Bone Collector is a damn good watch, and for any Washington or Jolie fans you are in for a great time.

The best parts of this movie are the actors and the suspense. Good performances, especially by Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, and a suspenseful atmosphere highlighted an otherwise routine thriller. The twist of the main character being a quadraplegic was also a plus.

You might like the book better. It provides more insight into the characters and storylines.

*** out of ****

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.

A bed ridden, paraplegic NYC detective, Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington), teams up with a rookie cop named Amelia (Angelina Jolie) to try and catch a serial killer, in this dark, moody atmospheric thriller from Director Phillip Noyce. This is a fine thriller.

From the get-go viewers understand that an intelligent maniac is on the loose, and could strike at any time. That is the very definition of cinematic tension. In addition, the killer uses dark, subterranean spaces to torture and kill victims. That inky darkness, together with a haunting musical score further amplifies suspense.

But, the solution to the whodunit puzzle is ultimately unsatisfying because the screenwriter withholds important back-story from viewers. This could have been so easily fixed with the addition of a line or two of dialogue and/or a brief added scene near the film's beginning. Even so, good plot misdirection creates ample red herrings, so that the killer's identity is not a foregone conclusion.

The film's cinematography, production design, and editing are fine. Washington does a good job as the paralyzed cop. But Angelina Jolie is miscast; she pouts her way through the film looking like she's bored out of her mind. The support cast helps a lot, with highly credible performances from delightful Queen Latifah, capable Ed O'Neill, and reliable Michael Rooker.

The crime scenes tended unfortunately to be in-your-face grizzly. But at least the gore quotient was minimal.

For dark, moody serial killer films set in NYC, I prefer "Sea Of Love" (1989). Nevertheless, "The Bone Collector" can be enjoyed for its elevated level of suspense, its fine cinematography, and its generally high level of acting. Be advised, however, that the film's finale may be a disappointment if you expect all the whodunit puzzle pieces to fall into place, neat and tidy.

I am one of those older folks who doesn't care for the kind of movies that are made these days. As such, my movie watching is generally confined to old classic films ala TCM and AMC. But, I do subscribe to all of the premium channels via DirecTV and, occasionally, watch a newer film if the plot synopsis appears to be one that I may be able to tolerate. I have read all of the previous reviews of this film on the IMDB and find them very interesting. Many of the reviews mention a movie titled "Seven". I have never heard of, much less seen, "Seven". I consider this fact to be a fortunate one because I was able to watch "The Bone Collector" without having to constantly compare it to a previous film. In short, I liked this movie. I was entertained royally precisely because I didn't take the story line too seriously. There was not much time wasted on character development. GOOD !! I don't need to know why the characters became the persons that they are. I simply want them to get on with whatever they must do. Another thing that I liked was the lack of sex scenes, which seem to be almost a necessity it today's movies. The two leads did a great job and their chemistry was excellent. Mr. Washington and Ms. Jolie were very believable. The killer? No big deal. I couldn't have cared less who did the killings. I simply waited for justice to be done. In short, I don't agree with any of the harsh criticism that I have read on this forum. I guess that's because I am a rather down to earth person who has no need to turn watching a movie into an academic exercise, complete with thorough analysis of character motivation, etc.