Boring

An Exercise In Nonsense

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

There is a particularly insidious predator operating out of Durham, North Carolina. Dubbing himself Casanova, he considers himself a connoisseur of extraordinary women, and holds them prisoner. He actually only kills the feisty ones; the ladies who have the audacity to ignore his "rules". However, he makes a major mistake when he abducts Naomi Cross (Gina Ravera), the niece of Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman), a brilliant forensic psychologist from Washington, D.C. Alex, having a personal stake in this mission, vows to identify the sicko, acquiring some much needed help from one young woman, intern Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd), who to date has been the only lady to successfully escape the killers' clutches.For a mainstream thriller from Hollywood, this adaptation of the James Patterson novel is actually pretty entertaining. It's not perfect - far from it. For example, the eventual way that Cross ultimately I.D.s Casanova is laughable. The film is very slick, and extremely well paced, and shies away from graphic violence (for the most part), which squeamish viewers will appreciate. In some ways, it's believable; Cross and compatriots such as his cousin Sampson (Bill Nunn) pursue leads and sometimes run into dead ends. They're not immune from f-ups. Ultimately, "Kiss the Girls" is formulaic fare, and becomes more and more so as it plays out, with your typical Big Hollywood ending where the monster has no choice but to reveal themselves. But there's one fresh plot twist along the way, giving "Kiss the Girls" a bit of an edge. It's directed with some style by Gary Fleder, in his first major effort; he went on to other thrillers such as "Don't Say a Word" and "Runaway Jury".Excellent location shooting helps, as well as an impressively disgusting lair in which Casanova can place his victims.Freeman is an ideal choice for the hero role, projecting his typical soft-spoken sense of authority. Judd shines as a fairly tough cookie who has no intention of being treated as a victim. She also feels a sense of responsibility to her fellow prisoners, harbouring some guilt over leaving them behind. There are lots of familiar faces among the supporting players: Cary Elwes, Tony Goldwyn, Jay O. Sanders, Brian Cox, Roma Maffia, Jeremy Piven, Helen Martin, Tatyana Ali, Mena Suvari, Billy Blanks, etc. Anna Maria Horsford and Tracey Walter appear uncredited.All in all, this works out well, thanks to that cast and crew; the film is a few minutes shy of two hours long, but the time practically flies by, with no filler to have to sit through.Seven out of 10.

Kiss the Girls had a heck of a lot going for it.Morgan Freeman, you have to give it a chance. Think about it, has the man ever been young? Yes? No? I've never seen him anything but old, but who cares, I've never really seen him do a bad job either.And now he's the new Leonard Nimoy isn't he? The narrator of absolutely everything. The voice of countless documentaries.Ashley Judd, not exactly a bad actress is she? Sure, in the 90s she may have kinda sorts looked like a clone of Jolie, but she always did a far better job. No matter what the movie she's been solid.Cary Elwes, why isn't he in more movies? He's sort of like a British Errol Flynn, totally fun to watch and a great sense of comedic timing. What was he doing in a movie like this? Who cares, we'll add that to the reasons to9 watch it anyway.And then, in small print, you see the name, you see that name: James Patterson. You almost have to cringe whenever you read it.Ever been on a long flight? You've probably read one of his novels and if you have it's been out of a sick desperation to kill time.James Patterson, yeah, world famous for making the clichéd crime novel. The same clichéd crime novel. Sure, the names change, the crime changes, but in the end it's like the cheap procedurals you watch on TV. Every one you watch is almost exactly like every other one you will and have ever seen.Unfortunately, despite the cast, the James Patterson effect takes hold of "Kiss the Girls" and you walk out of the theater with that irritating sense of deja vu. You've been there before, you've gone to that movie before, and in a few short days this film is going to blend in a confusing mess with all the other films you've seen that were almost exactly like it.

I can't claim to be a particular avid fan of these types of movies, but Morgan Freeman being in the movie was sufficient enough to make me sit down and watch "Kiss the Girls".Story-wise, then "Kiss the Girls" was as generic and average as these crime mysteries go. There was not really anything overly innovating here or anything that made you go 'whoa, that was impressive'. And the movie is suffering under this.The story is your average story about a serial killer who kidnaps people, and then one man decides to track him down as he is closely tied to one of the kidnapped girls.Right, nothing that hasn't been done or seen before in other movies.However, I will say that Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes and Tony Goldwyn really performed quite well, and they managed to make "Kiss the Girls" watchable. There was also a bunch of other familiar faces to be seen throughout the movie, and that did spice it up a bit.But this movie didn't really rock my boat, and I have to settle on a very mediocre five out of ten stars for this crime mystery movie. The reason for this is that it was so predictable, generic and offered no surprises throughout the almost two hours that is runs. There are far better crime mystery movies available, and this one follows the 'how-to-make-a-crime-mystery' guidebook without any deviation.

This is a nice, high-tensioned movie starring Morgan Freeman as Washington, D.C. cop Alex Cross, who learns that his niece is missing in North Carolina. She is suspected to be among the victims of a kidnapper who nabs young girls and holds them captive and kills them. The kidnapped Dr. Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd) fortunately escapes, meets Cross, and help him in attempts to locate his niece and the hostages.This is a good conventional thriller, full of mystery, twists and turns and some kick-butt action that will surely captivate an audience and keep them engaged. Morgan Freeman makes a calm, serious and thoughtful Alex Cross, providing some touching drama and good on-screen chemistry with Judd's McTiernan character. Judd, though, was somewhat emotionless and detached from her role in some scenes, in my opinion. David Klass did a good job in writing the screenplay, adapting from James Patterson's novel, making a movie where the story is fresh and intriguing. Gary Fleder's solid direction helped with the plot's suspenseful pacing and generated enough tension to keep the movie attention-grabbing; I especially liked the part where McTiernan attempts to escape from the kidnapper in a heart-pumping game of cat and mouse. While the movie leaves some loose ends, it's still good tension and action fun, and worth the watch. Grade B