Retro Film Review: Kiss the Girls (1997)

In 1990s Hollywood tried very hard to exploit American obsession with serial killers. The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en were the most successful and influential of all the films dealing with that sinister and fascinating subject. Many Hollywood films tried to emulate success of those two hits by adopting their characters, plot elements or atmosphere. Few did it as obviously as Kiss the Girls, 1997 thriller directed by Gary Fleder.

The script for the film is based on the best-selling novel by James Patterson. Protagonist is Alex Cross (played by Morgan Freeman), Washington DC forensic psychologist who gets involved in nasty serial kidnapping/murder case. Unknown perpetrator, calling himself "Casanova", targets beautiful, intelligent and talented women and abducts them from university campus in Durham, North Carolina. One of the kidnapped women is Cross' niece Naomi (played by Gina Ravera), so Cross travels to North Carolina and joins team of investigators that includes his old friend, FBI agent Kyle Craig (played by Jay O. Sanders). Cross, after examining evidence, concludes that the real aim of the kidnapper is collecting instead of killing women. Further insight into perpetrator's mind is provided by Kate McTiernan (played by Ashley Judd), doctor and amateur kick boxer who managed to escape from the abductor's lair.

Fleder tries to emulate success of Se7en with dark, foreboding atmosphere, in which Aaron Schneider's cinematography plays important part. Strong female heroine and killer taking their victims in captivity are the elements taken from The Silence of the Lambs. Another, even more telling homage to Se7en is casting of Morgan Freeman for the role of intellectual detective. Freeman, whose mere presence rescued many bad films from oblivion, is very good in this film. But his efforts still can't compensate for the flaws of David Klass' screenplay. In the first part of the film, Kiss the Girls looks somewhat original - North Carolina setting is not often used in serial killer films, while the main villain is unconventional. Unfortunately, in the second part Kiss the Girls succumbs to cliches and the audience has plenty of opportunity to spot implausibilities and major plot holes. To make things worse, plot resolution becomes very predictable and the audience won't be shocked with the "surprise" twist that only prolongs the film's ending. The acting is good, with Ashley Judd handling her unconventional character very well and Fleder handles few action scenes very well. But the bad script and film makers' unwillingness to inject Kiss the Girls with gore, genuine scares or truly disturbing material makes this film disappointing to all those who based their expectations on The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on March 24th 2004)

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