Along Came a Spider

Tags

2000's, Along Came a Spider, Dylan Baker, Lee Tamahori, Michael Wincott, Monica Potter, Morgan Freeman, Thriller

Film Title

Along Came a Spider

Director

Lee Tamahori

Starring

• Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross
• Monica Potter as Jezzie Flanagan
• Michael Wincott as Gary Soneji
• Dylan Baker as Ollie McArthur

Alex Cross returns to the cinema screen, following his appearance in Kiss the Girls. Yet Along Came a Spider is not the best film as a thriller due to the way it slowly plays out and overload of twists that do it harm. Some shining moments are there, mainly an excellent Morgan Freeman and some good suspense. But sadly these traits are not enough to cover this leaky film that slowly falls apart.

Washington, D.C. Detective and forensic psychologist Alex Cross retires from the force after heading a sting operation that goes terribly wrong when his partner is killed. Feeling guilty for it despite it not being his fault, Alex retreats into himself while trying to come to terms with his emotions. Meanwhile, there is something in the works that will bring Alex back into the police work once more. It all begins with the kidnapping of Megan Rose, the daughter of a senator, from her prestigious school. The man who has kidnapped her is her teacher Gary Soneji, who has complex motives that he slowly teases out. He is the one who brings Alex back into the fold by contacting him and taunting him. Special Agent Jezzie Flanagan is held accountable for the breach in security as she was the one who was keeping watch over young Megan, and she is determined to find Megan out of guilt. Brought on to the case albeit with some reluctance, Alex partnered with Jezzie and with the aid of Detective Ollie McArthur, plunges into the complex case that shows that the kidnapping of Megan was just the tip of the iceberg for Soneji. Alex deduces that wants to be notorious for his crimes, but there are many other unanswered questions at play. A complex game is afoot now and Alex is determined to break it. Along with Jezzie , Alex sets out to uncover the motives and reasons before it is too late. But how can you catch a criminal who seemingly wants to be known but is effortless at being elusive?

The direction is the first part of the film that makes problematic probably the best word befitting of Along Came a Spider. Lee Tamahori doesn’t seem to know a thing about pacing a thriller, although he starts strong he can’t keep any momentum up. The film slowly descends into run of the mill shenanigans and even when it does have good parts, they are sadly overshadowed by the weaknesses of the plot. Like I said, there are some good moments of suspense generated. These consist of the opening in which the partner of Cross is killed after the operation goes awry and a rain-soaked set piece where Alex and Jezzie are confronted with Gary Soneji. These provide two highlights of a picture, that sadly lacks a punch. And with the script, I’m all for a few twists but Along Came a Spider tangles itself into oblivion with its attempts to be clever. I must say that I enjoyed Kiss the Girls better because its story kept you involved, whereas with this film it drifts away and becomes mundane. A score from Jerry Goldsmith, who is one of my favourite film composers, is appropriately suspenseful and imaginative, injecting the film with good helpings of both which the mixed movie requires.

As flawed and up and down as Along Came a Spider proves to be, Morgan Freeman portraying Alex Cross is simply brilliant. Freeman once more plays his part with a great deal of respect and shrewd intellect, as Alex is reluctantly drawn back into his job as detective by the quite baffling and twisting case presented to him. His gravity, quietly unassuming personality and keen insight of the character is what really keeps this movie going, even when it slips into contrivance and ridiculousness. Although I’ve seen Monica Potter in other good parts, her role as Jezzie Flanagan here is not one of them. The character is meant to be conflicted and guilt ridden, but she comes off as emotionless. Now I don’t know whether this is the fault of the script of Potter or the script, but the role just is not a good one. Even when later on they expand on her character, it’s too little too late. Michael Wincott is a lot more successful in his portrayal of the kidnapper Gary Soneji, who has motives that are hard to figure out. He isn’t an over the top villain, instead a quietly intelligent and often pitiful man with a warped world view. All of that is made clear and interesting due to Michael Wincott and his good work. In the main supporting part of the detective assigned to the case, Dylan Baker is given scant to do but remains quite memorable.

While the music, some tension and a reliable Morgan Freeman performance can be gleaned from Along Came a Spider, it is not enough to create something that will linger in the mind.

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The Cell

Tags

2000's, Dylan Baker, Horror, Jennifer Lopez, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Tarsem Singh, The Cell, Thriller, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio

Film Title

The Cell

Director

Tarsem Singh

Starring

• Jennifer Lopez as Catherine Deane
• Vince Vaughn as Agent Peter Novak
• Vincent D’Onofrio as Carl Stargher
• Dylan Baker as Henry West
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Dr. Miriam Kent

A visually disturbing and unique film, but also hollow and poorly plotted, The Cell is sometimes its own worst enemy in terms of what it wants to be. It may boast the occasional moment of understanding, but you just get the feeling it could have been so much more if differences were made to it.

Catherine Deane is a psychologist who deals with cases of comatose patients. Through an unusual and high-tech treatment, she can place herself in the mind of the patient and try to connect with them, in the hoped of coaxing them out of their coma. The FBI enlists her services when Carl Stargher, a serial killer falls into a coma after kidnapping his latest victim. Carl keeps his victims in a confined cell in an unknown location that eventually fills with water to slowly drown them. Carl after killing them commits atrocities to their bodies and crafts the women into human dolls. With Carl now in a comatose state, the whereabouts of his latest victim are not known and Agent Peter Novak wants to save the woman before it is too late. Catherine agrees to enter Carl’s mind in order to discover where the latest victim is. Yet she is not prepared for what greets her when she enters his mind. It manifests as disturbing images from his childhood in which his father routinely abused him and strange visions of the adult Carl who delights in graphic and sadistic murder. While trying to stop herself getting too involved with the increasingly bizarre visions and discerning herself that it is all not a reality, Catherine becomes lost in this dangerous dreamscape believing it to be real. Now caged in his mind along with Peter who ventures in to help her, she must find a way out before her time runs out.

If The Cell was purely judged from a visual standpoint, it would be a masterpiece. Director Tarsem Singh knows how to shoot these vivid and very disturbing journeys into Carl’s warped mind with style and verve. Striking and unusual images abound: a horse is cut in half and its still beating heart is shown, the walls of a palace become the cloak of Carl as a king, Catherine imprisoned in a gravity defying cage and also being dressed in unusually restrictive clothing as a fantasy figure. The list could go on about how amazing the film looks, it’s a shame that the plotting, pacing and writing could have been much better. Singh has a craft when it comes to the fantasy and horror aspects, but his grasp of pace and other things isn’t as deft. In the beginning, The Cell just meanders along for big stretches and only really comes alive when Catherine enters into Carl’s twisted psyche. Character development among the supporting cast and Vince Vaughn’s character is almost non-existent and none of them are really that interesting.  As I mentioned earlier, The Cell doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. It feels like a three-way cross between a thriller, horror and dashes of fantasy. And while I have nothing against the melding of genres together, The Cell lurches from one to the other without a care and it just makes the film feel messy. At least there’s a Middle Eastern infused score from Howard Shore that compliments the haunting cornucopia of imagery and keeps the plot going despite the flaws of it.

Jennifer Lopez, while not being the first person to spring to mind in playing a psychologist, actually brings warmth and sympathy to her underwritten character. Lopez must also get credit for the amount of convincing fear she portrays when she is entangled in the dreams and memories of Carl. Vince Vaughn tries his best but is saddled with such an uninteresting character, that he can’t really register anything of memory. The real acting highlight of The Cell is Vincent D’Onofrio. Bringing his considerable hulking and physical presence to the role, he delves into the disturbed mind of Carl and gives us the child in a man’s body who has no idea of right and wrong due to the horrendous abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. When you finish this film, it will be D’Onofrio that you will remember. Dylan Baker and Marianne Jean-Baptiste are given absolutely nothing to do as fellow psychologists and their inclusion adds up to nothing.

So for all the audacity and visual impact, The Cell doesn’t add up to an excellent movie.