Author James Patterson describes the character Alex Cross as an "Athletic man in his forties, 6'2" and about 220 pounds." Not exactly a spitting description of Morgan Freeman, who was nearly in his 60s for his first outing as Alex Cross in 1999's "Kiss The Girls," but it's hard to imagine another actor bringing the dignified gravitas to the screen that Freeman does.
"Kiss The Girls" follows detective Alex Cross investigating serial killer Cassanova after Cross' niece is kidnapped by the criminal. After Ashley Judd's Doctor Kate McTiernan is also kidnapped, the Casanova the chase to unravel who Casanova is and find his kidnapped prizes heats up, leading Cross to have to use all of his skills and McTiernan's to save his niece.
The film is a standard 1999 crime drama. So many other films have and will use the same basic formula as "Kiss The Girls," but this doesn't come as a fault to the film. "Kiss The Girls" remains energetic, engaging, and entertaining. Coming in at just under two hours, the film wastes no time, characters are established, situations are created, and before you know it, you're smack dab in the middle of a crime drama that knows how to linger long enough to get the point across but not long enough to dawdle.
The film wasn't received as fondly as my review will, but perhaps in hindsight, "Kiss The Girls" is a more competent film. With runtimes inflating to be well over two hours today, it's amazing how much a film like this can get done in little time. The cross is immediately likable and understood to be a cool, smart, but not without-flaw-protagonist. Judd's McTiernan perhaps suffers a little from 90's 'girl power' but nothing so bad that her character isn't believable. She's tough and smart both of these serve her character but not to the point that she is infallible. The supporting cast includes Tony Goldwyn, Cary Elwes, Bill Nunn, Brian Cox, and Richard T. Jones, who all put in strong performances that make the world of "Kiss The Girls" feel real and sharp.
Patterson, whose books have always worked well at building tension, translates well to the screen. Other writers would make "Kiss The Girls" totally about Cross searching for and finding McTiernan's character, but this story adds a little depth to both characters by hinging the story on them working together with a twist at the end that's not 100 unpredictable but fun enough to keep audiences in the theatre intrigued until it's last minutes.
Again, "Kiss The Girls" is not a unique experience in the same year of its release, there would be "The Bone Collector" starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. In 2001, the sequel to "Kiss The Girls" "Along Came A Spider" and just a short while later "High Crimes" would star Freeman AND Judd again in a non-Alex Cross-related film but with similar sensibilities. Clearly, audiences were hungry and enjoying the formula of "brilliant but scarred black detective teams up with victim turned survivor white woman to bring a too-close-to-home serial killer to justice," and it makes sense why "Kiss The Girls" (and all the other films mentioned) are good movies. Certainly not Oscar-worthy in most aspects, but for the time they were released, these were the ideal "popcorn flicks," and I would venture to say that they were a lot more sound in narrative and filmmaking than what is considered to be a 'popcorn flick" today.
Freeman and Judd make a good pair, and it's no wonder they'd be put together again for 2002's "High Crimes." "Kiss The Girls" is a satisfying itch for a one-and-done, not-too-long crime thriller that hits all its intended marks without having to rely on jump scares and cheap thrills.
Could "Kiss The Girls" exist in the market of cinema like the one we have today? I cannot say for sure. On the one hand, it lacks the innate depth that films seem to strive for today, but on the other hand, because it's not trying to be too deep, it doesn't miss its marks and delivers entertainment with a side dish of good performances.
In any event, "Kiss The Girls" is a good time and serves as a living testament to how going to the theatre was almost 25 years ago. It has all the qualities of an average good film but feels distinct in its presence as the film it sets out to be, and in these days of cookie-cutter, franchise-making, thematically bereft, and stale action films, that would be considered a major success.
My Verdict: 7.7/10
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