imagemap

KISS THE GIRLS

1/2
WenQing
Directed by Gary Fleder
Produced by : Rysher Entertainment
Main Cast : Morgan Freeman (Alex Cross), Ashley Judd (Kate McTiernan), Cary Elwes (Nick Rushkin) and Aidan Quinn (William Randolph)
Duration : 120 min approx
Rating : * 1/2 out of * * * * *

WHAT IN THE WORLD IN WRONG WITH MORGAN FREEMAN?

Here's the lowdown: what was the last good serial killer-slasher movie you saw? When was the last time you saw Brad Pitt with a tragic haircut? When was the last time you saw Kevin Spacey appear on screen for less than half a movie? When was the last time Gwyneth Paltrow's character lost her head (except in EMMA!)? When was the last time Morgan Freeman was in a good movie? [ Image: Does Morgan Freeman really have nothing better to do? ]

The answer to all these is : SE7EN.

What's wrong with Morgan Freeman? He does a minor botch-up -- CHAIN REACTION with then-tubby hearthrob Keanu Reeves -- and now he goes and does the same old policeman-paternal-ish type role with Ashley Judd in KISS THE GIRLS. You can't help comparing SE7EN and KISS THE GIRLS because it's about a serial killer. And you can't help wondering if KISS THE GIRLS has anything new to shed on the subject.

It doesn't. When was the last time you watched two killers collaborating in a murder spree? SCREAM. When was the last time, a killer did some copy-cat kidnapping and killing? COPYCAT. Somehow this is such familiar ground that KISS THE GIRLS fails to raise eyebrows and fails to excite. Not to mention how uncompelling the entire plot is.

Alex Cross (Freeman) is a forensic psychologist. He finds out how a murder has happened by checking out the crime scene and studying the gruesome details (sound familiar? Only he doesn't have a pretty boy tagging along). His niece is kidnapped by a serial kidnapper-rapist-killer in North Carolina and he drives there from Washington DC (in his spiffy black porsche... do policemen earn that much?) to solve the case. In the meantime, the serial killer of North Carolina kidnaps Kate McTiernan (a kick-boxing Ashley Judd) and she eventually escapes, owing to all that high kicking. Then Judd and Freeman try to solve the case. They find out the two parallel killers, one in Vancouver and one in North Carolina, are working together, and eventually find out who they are and blow them away. It's really unexciting stuff. [ Image: Does Morgan Freeman really have nothing better to do? ]

Even though the cinematography is pretty compelling, the problem is that all the stylish photography sometimes gets too confusing to watch. Action scenes get all blurry and jerky and you get a little lost. Worse still, the characters are unsympathetic. Sure Alex Cross has a reason for his crusade, his beloved niece, but somehow there isn't enough punch after other slashers like SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and SEVEN have taken away all the jazz. What you get finally is a tired flick with too little run on. I don't understand why the police don't search the place that Judd and Freeman search at the conclusion of the show... and where they eventually find the hideout of our killers. Worse than that are the ultra-creepy cliched lines like : "Alex (pause) be careful" or "He's (one of the murderers) playing with us" and so on.

But really what's awful is how Freeman's character only realises how bungling and negligent both he and the killer have been; Freeman finding out who the murderer is late and the murderer giving himself away from all the way in the beginning of the show... so much so that the climax of the movie, with Judd inviting Freeman to dinner thinking the whole mystery is solved is too much of a signal for another bout of blood-bathing.

What's wrong with Morgan Freeman, you wonder? Have studios typecast him the way they did Bela Lugosi or Boris Karloff (even Christopher Lee's Dracula counts). I hope it doesn't keep happening because Freeman had a good thing going with DRIVING MISS DAISY and GLORY and later with SE7EN. It would be a shame to let such a talented actor go down the drain after he rose out of the ranks of the stars of "The Electric Company" (remember the production of the Children's Television Workshop?).

Don't bother with KISS THE GIRLS unless you haven't watched a single slasher movie in your life, it's all been done before.

The Flying Inkpot's Rating System

* Wait for the TV2 broadcast.
** A little creaky, but still better than staying at home with Tonight With Gurmit.
*** Pretty good, bring a friend.
**** Amazing, potent stuff.
***** Perfection. See it twice.

Read other movie reviews at The Flying Inkpot.
Other film reviews by other writers can also be obtained from the InkVault through key word searches.


Explore the Flying Inkpot

They're Alive!
Concert Reviews

Bit deadish:

Other Resources at The Flying Inkpot
Zine Scene Newslinks Movie Resources Booklinks
Chantelle L'amour Letters Page Inkvault Poetry
Home

Readers' Comments

From: ken ()

Good review. Actually better that quite a few that appear in the newspaper. I agree that many of the new[er] moview do not seem to have much new content, plots or other features which would seem to justify the high budgets or salaries and one gets the impression of having seen them before [several times]. Thanks.
From: Becky (besalsbury@hotmail.com)

The movie, Kiss the Girls, was great. I loved it because I plan on being a forensic psychologist too. If being one for the FBI blows up in my face, then I'm going to work w/ inmates. I can't get over how great the movie was. I wish the movie making industry could have every movie that well written and acted. I,too, write stories, but they're short stories. They fall in the same catagory as Kiss the Girls. Thanx. Becky