`Spider' satisfies its detective story formula
By CHRIS BANNISTER
Scene Movie Critic
There is, inherently, a puzzle to be solved in every detective film. Having a puzzle gives the genre an advantage over other movies because as long as the puzzle is there to be examined, people will watch the film, no matter how poor the acting, writing or theme. Even movies that can be unequivocally classified as bad will still leave a viewer with some sense of satisfaction because the audience is allowed to engage in solving the crime.
In that regard, "Along Came a Spider" never had far to go to become an enjoyable movie; however, although the film is thoroughly enjoyable, it attempts no demonstration of any cinematic skill.
Based on the best-selling novel, "Spider" is a prequel to the earlier literary adaptation, "Kiss the Girls," which starred Freeman and Ashley Judd. "Girls" was not a very remarkable film; thus, most had little hope for the success of its prequel.
Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) is a star profiler for the Washington, D.C. police when a sting operation goes bad. At the outset of the film, Alex is still trying to recover from the trauma of the death of his partner, who was killed in the debunked sting operation. However, plans are rapidly changed when a senator's daughter is kidnapped and the perpetrator wants to pull Alex into the web of the case.
Morgan Freeman chose to return to the role of Cross because he feels that the character allows for a great deal of dramatic exploration.
Freeman craftily explores Cross and puts in a good performance. However, Cross just isn't all that different from the characters Freeman has played in the past, such as his aging detective in "Seven." Freeman does his job well but never throws any real ingenuity into the character.
To be fair, Cross, while probably much more developed in the novel, is written as a tired archetype, which is unremarkable on the screen.
As "Spider's" story progresses, Cross is joined by a secret service agent (Monica Potter), who leads the ineffective protection team for the kidnapped girl. Together, they set off tracking down the culprit.
It appears Potter may have to write this particular film off as a learning experience. She doesn't seem to have taken any tips from Mr. Freeman at all, and she therefore delivers a performance that lacks the subtlety to reveal any depth.
As the two characters continue to investigate, the kidnapping plot gets more and more complicated, leading all the way up to the rather surprising climax.
Of course, as mentioned before, this mystery and its unraveling are the film's strengths. The mystery is interesting enough that it carries a lot of the film's weight. Thus, the film's mild success at being entertaining lies in the plot that was created in the novel.
However, the filmmakers did not pay much attention to the cinematic aspects of the book adaptation process. For example, none of the cinematography is anything above standard Hollywood sludge. While one would think that a film called "Along Came a Spider" would be a perfect chance to utilize some beautifully dark shot composition, the screen is splashed with light as much as anything else on the typical Hollywood menu.
Finally, it is the close alignment with the status quo that makes it impossible for "Along Came a Spider" to bring anything but brief amusement. However, the film works because it uses to the fullest the inherently intriguing structure of all detective films.
In an age when so many films are neither above average nor entertaining, "Along Came a Spider" provides a kind of guilty pleasure. Of course, most of the film's elements could be torn apart by a discerning eye, but they ultimately defy criticism because the inherent puzzle entertains the audience until the very end.
--three and a half shamrocks (out of five)
All Scene Stories for Thursday, April 12, 2001
