Dan
04-13-2001, 12:32 PM
Along Came a Spider (R) at the Circus
2 stars
Spider webs are elegant in their simplicity and symmetry. But Morgan Freeman's new murder mystery weaves a web so thoroughly tangled that no self-respecting bug would claim it -
and no fly would ever be so dumb as to fly into it.
"Along Came a Spider" is one of those old-fashioned murder mysteries which introduces us to a dozen suspects and lets us guess who is guilty. Agatha Christie knew how to tantalize us
with such creepy ambiguities. But screenwriter Marc Moss seems to get lost inside his own maze.
The beginning point is a kidnapping at a private school. A young girl, the daughter of a senator, is abducted. Ace detective Alex Cross, a District of Columbia detective, is assigned to the case. Cross has literally written the book on serial killers, so he seems well suited to track down this guy before he hurts the girl.
Sound simple? Hardly. Just when we think we've settled in for a good mystery, guns start firing and suspects start dying. Then there's a doublecross or two - a steady stream of cyber shenanigans.
The computer subplot is particularly puzzling. There's no doubt that this film wants to appear cyber-smart. There are all sorts of scenes where people are doing amazing things at the keyboard.
Trouble is this isn't a cyber mystery. And we don't even need a single computer to unravel this crime.
As it turns out, the crime is solved the way bad movies always solve crimes: the detective goes into deep thought and suddenly "gets it." And away he goes to capture the killer.
Now good mysteries allow us full access to the necessary clues - and let us decipher them. We take pride in avoiding false leads and zeroing in on the real killer.
But "Along Came a Spider" just keeps feeding us decoys and then laughing at us when we fall for the deception. This is a dumb script, not a smart one - and that's annoying.
The films stars Morgan Freeman, who can be quite good. He doesn't have much to do in this, except to wrinkle his brow and think hard. There's no variety to his performance. He's clearly going through the motions to earn his salary, which is likely $10
million or so.
This movie ends up being both boring and frustrating. There's no sense that the filmmakers know how to either plan or execute a mystery.
Alfred Hitchcock, whose ghost probably haunts some bell tower somewhere, needs to return for a short visit just to remind us how thrilling and elegant a simply told tale of murder can be.
2 stars
Spider webs are elegant in their simplicity and symmetry. But Morgan Freeman's new murder mystery weaves a web so thoroughly tangled that no self-respecting bug would claim it -
and no fly would ever be so dumb as to fly into it.
"Along Came a Spider" is one of those old-fashioned murder mysteries which introduces us to a dozen suspects and lets us guess who is guilty. Agatha Christie knew how to tantalize us
with such creepy ambiguities. But screenwriter Marc Moss seems to get lost inside his own maze.
The beginning point is a kidnapping at a private school. A young girl, the daughter of a senator, is abducted. Ace detective Alex Cross, a District of Columbia detective, is assigned to the case. Cross has literally written the book on serial killers, so he seems well suited to track down this guy before he hurts the girl.
Sound simple? Hardly. Just when we think we've settled in for a good mystery, guns start firing and suspects start dying. Then there's a doublecross or two - a steady stream of cyber shenanigans.
The computer subplot is particularly puzzling. There's no doubt that this film wants to appear cyber-smart. There are all sorts of scenes where people are doing amazing things at the keyboard.
Trouble is this isn't a cyber mystery. And we don't even need a single computer to unravel this crime.
As it turns out, the crime is solved the way bad movies always solve crimes: the detective goes into deep thought and suddenly "gets it." And away he goes to capture the killer.
Now good mysteries allow us full access to the necessary clues - and let us decipher them. We take pride in avoiding false leads and zeroing in on the real killer.
But "Along Came a Spider" just keeps feeding us decoys and then laughing at us when we fall for the deception. This is a dumb script, not a smart one - and that's annoying.
The films stars Morgan Freeman, who can be quite good. He doesn't have much to do in this, except to wrinkle his brow and think hard. There's no variety to his performance. He's clearly going through the motions to earn his salary, which is likely $10
million or so.
This movie ends up being both boring and frustrating. There's no sense that the filmmakers know how to either plan or execute a mystery.
Alfred Hitchcock, whose ghost probably haunts some bell tower somewhere, needs to return for a short visit just to remind us how thrilling and elegant a simply told tale of murder can be.