Kiss the Girls . Nashville Scene . 10-13-97

Kiss the Girls

DIRECTED BY: Gary Fleder

REVIEWED: 10-13-97

Great acting can often salvage a mediocre screenplay or inferior direction, but it seldom can elevate it, as the new thriller Kiss the Girls proves. In Gary Fleder's adaptation of the James Patterson novel, Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd consistently demonstrate their formidable capabilities; they're even supported by above-par technical work, particularly the cinematography, which showcases the North Carolina forestry and terrain. But Kiss the Girls is missing a spark of originality or inspiration--and without it Freeman and Judd can't prop everything else up.

The story involves the search for a serial killer/collector by forensic expert Alex Cross (Freeman), who joins forces with a kick-boxing medical student (Judd), the killer's only captive to escape thus far. (The pairing takes place only after Cross has demonstrated the inevitable reluctance to team up with a civilian.) The two actors do have chemistry, and they're such pros that they forge a credible alliance without any sense of offscreen one-upmanship or competition. As the movie builds to a climax, their compiling of clues has some dramatic value. But Freeman did all this much better, and in far more gripping fashion, in 1995's Seven.

Perhaps it's a bit uncharitable to say there are no surprising twists in Kiss the Girls. But anyone who has read even one Erle Stanley Gardner or Walter Mosley novel will quickly anticipate the unfolding developments, and the finale doesn't come close to equaling the impact of its obvious forerunner, The Silence of the Lambs. The supporting cast, which includes Jay O. Sanders, Cary Elwes, and Tony Goldwyn, fails to add much sizzle, and Mark Isham's score is as unmemorable as his New Age stock-in-trade. Ultimately, Kiss the Girls ranks no higher than a mildly satisfying work like Ransom. It's far from Hollywood's worst, but it's also far from Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd's best.

--Ron Wynn

Full Length Reviews
Kiss the Girls
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