NEW REVIEWS!!! ........................................ The Butterfly Effect The Cooler Ella Enchanted Eternal Sunshine Hellboy Mean Girls 13 Going on 30 Used Cars The Whole Ten Yards

Little Miss Potter
Has been getting hotter
Since she was in "Bulletproof."

But "Along Came a Spider"
It opened much wider.
Now her career's gonna go through the roof.

Mainly because this is a top-billing type role. Her name is right there with Morgan Freeman's. Sure she was in "Con Air" and "Patch Adams," but does anybody really notice a performance next to Nicolas Cage or Robin Williams? Of course not. That's their shtick. It would be like trying to read a magazine while on acid in an exploding fireworks factory. Not that I would ever imply that Cage or Williams overact. God forbid. Actually, I don't know if she was any good or not, because this is was a standard woman cop kind of role, but she didn't suck.

Also not sucking was the never sucky Morgan Freeman, who was a natural for this role, based on his previous work. Many people don't know that he previously played this character, Alex Cross, on the television series "The Electric Company," chasing the ever-elusive Spider Man. At first I was hoping this film would be the culmination of that long running storyline, but it turns out it's just the bad guy from "The Crow."

The director is Australian, and Australian directors are good people, when you look at your Baz Luhrmans, your George Millers, and your Peter Jacksons. Okay, PJ is from New Zealand, but my ignorant American mind tells me that's the same thing. Also, I'm ignoring Yahoo Serious and Paul Hogan because they betray my point. Lee Tamahori directed "Once Were Warriors" and "The Edge," both fine films. Now here's another one.

The action, tension, look and feel of the film are all very good. There's some decent action, and the performances don't betray the characters involved. Everyone does a good job of being who they are supposed to be. The only thing that hurts is the script.

People say things out of line with the things that have passed, such as the villain breaking down in a conversation with Cross for no real good reason. This same man devised his whole scheme and executed it over several years, pretending to be a very calm, intelligent, reasonable person at a very secure location, a private schhool for the children of international dignitaries. Also, without spoiling anything, one of the big twists at the end, if you backtrack, would have ruined the whole plan had the twist not been in place, and he didn't know about it.

Just to nitpick, the film opens with the typical "I can't go back to my job because of X tragedy, for which I feel responsible." The tragedy is clearly in no way Cross's fault. If it had been, he would have been fired and likely prosecuted, as is the case with most of these "I blame myself" scenarios. What is even weirder is that part of the accident involves a good guy wearing a seat belt, while the bad guy is not. The bad guy obviously gets taken out pretty quick. This has been nothing new ever since it was used in "Turner & Hooch." What's troubling is that for as affected by this as Cross is, he never wears his seatbelt. Nobody in the movie does. They all have no concern for vehicular safety, despite the chases, wrecks, and the fact that they are driving in Washington D.C. I hate driving in D.C. I would rather be in Death Race 2001 than try and see a show in Georgetown. It's evil I tell you.

One last thing is the use of computers. What are screenplays made on? Stone tablets? Are peole not using these miraculous computing machines? How can the government agents not crack a simple encryption used by a ten year old, and what is so High Tech about instant messenger? Why would a villain set up a web cam of his lair, linked to the kidnapped child's desktop? Why, oh why, would somebody tell someone a story that gives away their password in one of their first conversations, then leave all forms of incriminating evidence on the desktop, in a well put-together Power Point presentation? And why is an ampersand (&) now a legitimate alphanumeric password character? WHY? Because somebody never bothered to look up anything. I understand, with their limited computer knowledge, how hard the In-Tor-Net can be. And I'm glad they will never find this site

KISS THE GIRLS: WITH A VENGANCE

by jim

Alex Cross returns for more adventures in the follow up to 1997's "Kiss the Girls". The film opens with Cross involved in a sting operation gone wrong that ends in the death of his partner. Cross, of course, blames himself and withdraws from his work. He instead chooses to spend his time making model ships, accompanied by his...wife? Girlfriend? Nurse? Who knows, they don't bother to explain.

Herein lies the problem with "Along Came a Spider". The entire film is circumstantial and unexplained. Important plot points revolve around nothing and the villain's "master plans" rely very heavily on coincidence. The basic idea is this - a Lindbergh obsessed kidnapper disguises himself as a teacher at a prestigious elementary school with the idea of snatching the daughter of an immensely wealthy, yet wholly unimportant senator (played with deep boredom by Michael Moriarty). The girl is apparently one of the Spy Kids and makes several ingenious, yet failed, attempts at escape.
After this the story just keeps twisting in on itself; to reveal more would give way to to many spoilers as the events keep shifting. Through it all, Cross seems to remain one step ahead of his foes. Good for him.

The script is fine, just too full of thriller clichés to actually be inventive. I mean an entire sequence is lifted directly from "Die Hard with a Vengence". "Kiss the Girls" was your wholesale thriller as well, but was elevated by the breakthrough performance of Ashley Judd. "Along Came a Spider" seemed to want to hold the same promise for emerging starlet Monica Potter. Alas, Monica is no Ashley Judd and the film suffers for it. Potter sounds like Julia Roberts and looks like everyone else. Her acting isn't bad, she just doesn't have the same boldness and gusto that allows Ashley Judd to overcome the fact that she is not yet an amazingly talented actress. I just don't see Monica Potter ever taking it to the next level. Morgan Freeman is solid as ever. He remains one of the most genuine actors working. As our kidnapper, Michael Wincott continues his string of shady characters, but this time, there seems to be a bit more work behind it. Wincott is not just his normal generic evil villain in this, he plays the role with heart and intelligence. Not just a bad guy, a man. Give some of the credit for that to director Lee Tamahori. He has a knack for elevating genre films out of the trappings that give them their name.

"Along Came a Spider" was an entertaining, if not outstanding, entry into the spring film line-up. It's worth seeing, but can certainly wait until video.