Ever since "Seven" (which I think is a masterpiece), there have been several dark, forensics-related thrillers hitting the big screen. None have come close to "Seven," but the effort is commendable. Besides, some may argue that the atmospheric look and forensics-savvy nature of "Seven" was a rip-off of yet another masterpiece, "Silence of the Lambs" (if you haven't yet read the sequel, "Hannibal," consider yourself lucky). Regardless of who's ripping-off whom (I'm pretty sure that I'm grammatically-correct there), none of the new dark thrillers have come close to those two great films.
Aside from the fact that I'm attracted to dark movies, there's something else I'm very much attracted to that made me wanna see this movie, and her name is Angelina Jolie. Damn, what a babe. She's great in this movie, but if you've ever seen "Gia," you'd guess that already. Also, there's the great Denzel Washington. It's almost a sin how grand a presence he brings to his roles, sorta the same way Morgan Freeman does, but without the older, fatherly thing on his side. There's also Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker (playing the kinda character you'd expect him to play), Luis Guzman (a great character actor who was the funny Mexican guy in "Boogie Nights," but whose performance as the father of one of the cops in "NYPD Blue" is the one I'll never forget), Ed O'Neill (that's right folks, Al Bundy... and he's really good in this serious role), and the one, the only... LELAND ORSER!!! Who is Leland Orser, you ask? He's a character actor who always seems to be in dark movies playing small, but key, roles. He was in "Seven" as the guy who was forced to act out "lust," he was in "Alien Resurrection" as a guy carrying an alien in his body, he was in the very dark comedy, "Very Bad Things," as a friend of the groom... and he always seems to wear his little glasses. I don't know why, but I think that Leland Orser is one of the coolest character actors in the business.
Directing duties for "The Bone Collector" was handled by Phillip Noyce. He was the guy who did "Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger," "The Saint," and... well, "Sliver." The only movie of his that I saw prior to this one was "Sliver," and it was horrible. As for this movie, I liked a lot of the shots, but Denzel's POV as he lies in the hospital bed was a bit annoying. Also, it coulda been gloomier. The screenplay was written by Jeremy Iacone, who wrote "One Tough Cop" and "Bound by Honor," neither of which I've seen. It was very formulaic, but I don't know how much of that can be blamed on the screenplay and how much can be blamed on the novel of the same name that it was based on, which was written by Jeffery Deaver.
As I wrote
earlier, I DID like "The Bone Collector," but it wasn't all that memorable.
I guess it's because it was just another Hollywood formula done well, but
not brilliantly. Then again, maybe I'm just another one of those arrogant
movie guys who overanalyze, nitpick, and examine films too closely. I've
been accused of it before.