Slight change of tone from last weeks review, as we look at one of Jolie's darker films and, in my opinion, one of her best. It's not big or brash, or filled with special effects. Instead, it's calm, cool and clever. It's none other than the crime thriller The Bone Collector.
Released in 1999, the year Jolie would win her first, and so far only, Academy Award, The Bone Collector is directed by Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games), and starts Denzel Washington and Queen Latifah. Based on the Jeffrey Deaver novel of the same name, the film features a NYC Police Detective (who was the central character in a series of books by Deaver), who teams up with a hot-headed beat cop to catch a killer who is on the loose in New York. It's a pretty simple mismatched buddy cop movie, but their hunt for the killer is intense, intelligent and keeps you guessing all the way.
Lincoln Rhyme (Washington) is a quadriplegic forensics expert in New York City. An accident involving falling rocks has left him bed-ridden, where is he cared for constantly by his home nurse Thelma (Latifah), but remains an active member member of the police force, but suffers sporadic strokes, one of which will one day leave him in a completely vegetative state. Fearing this most of all, he has made arrangements to be terminated if this should happen.
Amelia Donaghy (Jolie) is a patrol cop who is having difficulties dealing with the loss of her father (also a policeman) and her current relationship. One day while on duty, she comes across a man buried beneath a railroad bed, with some clues left very conspicuously at the scene. Recovering these, she is brought to meet Rhyme, who, impressed with the way she handled the crime scene, says she has an instinct for forensics, and offers for her to join him and hunt for the killer together. Reluctantly, she agrees, and she becomes his eyes and ears, looking over the crimes scenes of the killer's future victims, describing what she finds, and following Rhymes instructions on how to process the crime scene and collect the necessary evidence.
What we get is 2 individuals, different in background, attitude and beliefs, uniting to stop a serial killer who always seems to be one step ahead of the game. It's a pretty old formula (see every mismatched cop movie ever made) but that doesn't stop it from being any less enjoyable. We see the natural antagonisms Amelia feels towards Rhyme, since she was close to taking a desk job to avoid the fate that befell her father. But as the movie goes on, and the bond between them develops from a mutual understanding to something more personal, they form a formidable duo. While the supporting cast aren't given very much screen time, they all play their parts well. One of the elements I hate most is Michael Rooker as the cliched douchebag Police Chief who meddles in EVERYTHING Rhyme and Amelia do to solve the case. Always have to despise the one who's right don't they.
A friend of mine has actually read the book, and says it's better than the movie, like most novels are. But if you take for what it is, a well-constructed, race-against-time crime thriller, you're sure to enjoy it.
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