Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Page 155

Along came a spider
Movie
Along came a spider
Director
Lee Tamahori
Producer
David Brown
Cinematographer
na
Music
na



By Ad-Lib

Gone are the days when Hollywood sent monsters and demons to our theatres to give us a few grey hairs. Nowadays the monster is a serial killer who is hell-bent on teasing his pursuers and the demons are those that exist in the pursuer`s mind. So clichéd and overused is this script since the days of Silence of the Lambs that one would gladly avoid spending and wait for the movie to come on cable. However Along Came A Spider is no ordinary movie. For starters we have the almost legendary Morgan Freeman who is so talented that he could make The Simpsons into psycho-thriller if he had to. So what is Along Came A Spider all about?

Eight months after seeing his partner die during a botched undercover operation, detective Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) still hasn`t forgiven himself for the incident or really gotten on with his life. His somber retreat, however, is broken when he suddenly finds himself thrust into the middle of a high-profile kidnapping case. A schoolteacher, Gary Soneji (Michael Wincott), has kidnapped Megan Rose (Mika Boorem), the 12-year-old daughter of Senator (Michael Moriarty) and Mrs. Rose (Penelope Ann Miller), despite her being under Secret Service protection run by agents Jezzie Flannigan (Monica Potter) and Ben Devine (Billy Burke), and has decided to get Cross involved in the case.

Arriving on the scene and meeting the head government agent in charge, Ollie McArthur (Dylan Baker), Cross gets to work investigating the case, asking that Jezzie be allowed on it due to her close involvement for several years with both Megan and Soneji. While the FBI believes that the kidnapper is just after money, Cross believes otherwise, particularly when he discovers that Soneji appears to be fixated on the historic kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby from the 1930`s and the motivation behind the crime is not, money but the title of the greatest kidnapper ever. As they realize that they`re dealing with a deranged individual who`s taken a long time to set up the crime and is now intent on playing mind games with them, Alex and Jezzie try to decipher his clues that they hope will eventually lead to him and the kidnapped girl.

Again I can`t state enough that Morgan Freeman is the highlight…make that the only light, of Along Came A Spider. The entire feel of the movie is eerie. Mostly the movie lacks in a few more famous names and faces. Micheal Wincott`s character disappoints in terms of ferocity. It seems nobody can match Anthony Hopkins in such roles. But I would definitely advise all of you to see it. It stirs the imagination and helps one delve into a killer`s mind.

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