Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kiss the Girls - A Non Love Story, September 5, 2004
One thing I've learned is that just because I love something that doesn't mean that everyone will love it. Heck they may not even like it. What's that old saying? "One person's Treasure is another's Trash"
Despite that I was genuinely surprised when I noticed that a few (just a few)reviewers actually trashed Kiss The Girls. One or two reviewers said it wasn't like the book while another said something really crazy, that it was just like The Silence of the Lambs, so it wasn't worth seeing. Well let me tell you, comparing Kiss the Girls with The Silence of the Lambs is like comparing the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Monument because they're both monuments. This reviewer took the common denominator, serial murderers, and said they're both the same. By extension, all movies about serial murders are like TSOTL and not worth seeing and then perhaps all action movies are like Die Hard also are not worth seeing and so forth.
As for the comments about not following the book, thats why they write screen plays. Every book cannot be put into visual form without some modification, some more, some less and Kiss the Girls was definitely less. Now I have read Kiss the Girls and Silence of the Lambs too. If something was left out, so be it. That's the case in most movies. You can't cram six hundred pages of story into two hours. Now I didn't read it just before or just after I saw the movie but as I remembered it, I thought it followed the book pretty well.
The Plot
The Durham Police Department has problem. Pretty college co-eds are disappearing from area college campuses. Additionally a couple of the women have been located in the wilds tied to a tree, exposed to the elements and wild animals. A note was found at each crime scene that said "Cassanova". Whether the remaining captives are alive or dead the investigators can only speculate.
The latest victim happens to be the niece of Dr. Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) a well reputed forensic detective and author from Washington. He has assured his frantic sister in law that he will do everything in his power to find out what happened to Naomi.
When Cross arrives in Durham he gets a tepid response from the authorities, being a famous big city cop nosing around in their business. But since this is family, this is personal and Cross will not be deterred. He discovers that there are six other victims, two of which have been found dead and that there is already a task force investigating.
Dr. Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd) is a remarkable woman. She is an Intern at a local hospital whose hobby is kickboxing. She is beautiful, bright and talented, just the way Cassanova likes them. Kate will make an excellent addition to his collection.
The investigation is going nowhere, the investigators are stymied and need a break, when words comes that two boys found a woman on the bank of a river. It is the break they needed for it is the newly kidnapped Dr. McTiernan who apparently escaped from Cassanova but she is in the hospital and something is wrong with her.
With the help of Alex Cross, Kate recovers from the drugs that Cassanova had given her, however she is of limited help.
She is able to tell authorities that the other victims are alive and being held at some undisclosed location.
Conclusion
Well let's see, the movie is based on James Patterson's greatest novel and Ashley Judd is my favorite actress and Morgan Freeman is my favorite actor. The acting by all is superb, especially Judd and Freeman but everybody did an outstanding job. The directing was great, the story flows well and is extremely suspenseful. The camera work is also excellent as were the sets and the setting. The movie has no flat or dull spots and keeps you guessing full time and there are some unique plot twists that I haven't mentioned, that is the real genius of the story.
Do I like the movie? Da.... are you kidding, I love the movie, in fact it's one of my ten favorites.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Spine-Tingling Thriller!, September 16, 2002
While others may argue that this action thriller was a "Silence of the Lambs' wannabe, I found both the plot and the characters to be far more compelling and plausible than in most contemporary suspense films. Of course, having someone as good at presenting the merits of forensic scientist as Morgan Freeman certainly helps, as does the strong performance by Ashley Judd, fresh from her star turn in "Heat" playing opposite Robert DeNiro and Val Kilmer. She is smart, sassy, and more than the match for the serial killer she must face alone here, and shows how well she can play an urbane, well-educated, and resourceful modern woman.And such talents are required by the somewhat convoluted plot spun from author James Patterson's gory novel of the same name. Filmed in somber tones, much of the action takes place in a makeshift subterranean lockup the serial murderer uses to such gruesome effect. Yet other scenes contrast this muddy environment by depicting the upscale area of the lovely area around the "Research Triangle" area of North Carolina near Duke University and the University Of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since Judd's character is a surgeon also doing important pediatric research, it shows a number of familiar scenes that denizens of the area will certainly recognize. After Judd manages to escape from the killer and make her back to the world, she agrees to help Freeman find him. Of course, this is when all hell breaks loose, and a number of unexpected plot twists make this a suspenseful thriller that had me at the edge of my seat for the last half hour. It is a fast-paced movie, one that is fairly intelligent in its approach, and as relatively straight-forward `bang-em-up' entertainment it works quite well. Enjoy!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd Make this Watchable, January 5, 2005
Morgan Freeman seems to have staked out a niche role. He seems to play a similar character in "Seven," "Along Came a Spider," and "High Crimes," which also co-stars Ashley Judd, along with other roles. I should also point out that Morgan Freeman acted in at least 20 films in the five years from 2000 to 2004, quite prolific in this era. However, it is a role he does exceedingly well. In fact, Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes and the rest of the cast hold their own from an acting viewpoint. The problem with this movie is not the acting. The problem is that this movie is just another in a series of similar movies that, while it has some interesting moments, is still similar in some ways to other recent movies that it appears to be more of a variation on a theme versus anything new.
Dr. Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd) is found by a river. It turns out that she has escaped a serial kidnapper dubbed Casanova. It also turns out that Kate has numerous skills, including the ability to defend herself when given the chance to do so. Of course, Casanova has been keeping his victims drugged, which causes Kate problems for much of the movie.
Dr. Alex Cross (Freeman) has a niece that appears to have been kidnapped by the Casanova, and he believes Kate may be the key to finding Casanova, his niece, and the other kidnapped girls. Along the path to finding Casanova we discover that the kidnapper seems to move back and forth between the East Coast and the West Coast, as the West Coast kidnapper takes his victims soon after the East Coast kidnapper. We also discover that the kidnapper is a very intelligent person (most of the time), and is so cool about his kidnappings that it is frightening.
What I enjoyed about this movie was how I was thrown off the scent by the West Coast and East Coast connection. Conversely, I was frustrated that it took Dr. Cross so long to figure out where Casanova might be hiding. I admit that we had more information than Dr. Cross, but based on where Kate was found and her descriptions, Dr. Cross should have had a clue earlier. I was also disappointed that Casanova did not build the same chill in me as the antagonists in "Silence of the Lambs," "Seven," or even "Along Came a Spider." This movie appears to be a thriller, but it comes across more as an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries."
Overall, I enjoyed the movie. However, it seemed to me the movie promised much more than it delivered, and I was disappointed by the unfulfilled buildup. I enjoyed Morgan Freeman's performance (as I nearly always do, the man is an excellent actor), and I found the other characters, particularly Ashley Judd, to be similarly believable. But I just never got any significant chills from this movie. It was like hopping on what appears to be a great roller coaster only to find out it was the kiddy coaster. I do recommend this movie to fans of the other movies I listed above, but I hesitate to recommend adding this to your collection.
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