Scary and engaging, but
ultimately broken.
The Bone
Collector is a chilling forensics investigation into a series of
grizzly murders. The deranged master criminal knows police forensics
sufficiently to lead the best and the brightest on a wild chase through
the underworld of Manhattan including creepy old factories, abandoned
subway tunnels, and other remnants of a more industrial past on the island
of commerce and crowds.
The graphic and chilling murders are really a backdrop for the main
story, that of the developing relationship between an unlikely pairing of
wise forensic mentor, Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington), and acolyte,
Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) who is a new cop who reluctantly joins forces
with him. The twist, in addition to casting a gorgeous, pouty model in a
"get dirty in the sewers" role, is that Lincoln is virtually a
complete cripple and operates from his high tech loft with the aid of
computers. He can talk, eat, and move one finger to operate his mouse, but
that is all his quadriplegic body will allow. In fact, he has made a
decision to end his life because he is on the verge of a seizure that will
render him a complete vegetable.
Lincoln masters the agony of a brilliant mind in a deteriorating body
who finds renewed reason to live while he teaches, toys with, and falls
for Amelia. In that role, Angelina shows mastery of an interesting
and diverse character. To be able to go onto the crime scene alone, she
develops the grit and control of her gag reflex.
It became fascinating to watch Amelia discover and then communicate her
growing love and even erotic interest in Lincoln without much more than a
touch, or a look, or a tone of voice. There was neither time nor physical
ability for the crashing of bodies we would have normally expected from
the pairing of two such gorgeous people.
Queen Latifah, as a round the clock nurse, displayed a command of
compassion and worried nudging while she hoped that Lincoln’s
involvement with Amelia in solving the murder mystery would spur him to
change his disposition toward dying.
Luis
Guizman plays a wisecracking super "techy" who analyzes material
with an electron microscope and array of gadgets. For those who like to
see stereotypes expanded, this movie offers plenty.
The photography, set design, and action pacing is very good. Our
disappointment, however, comes at the end, when the murderer is identified
and confronts the pair. His motive comes out of the cliché book and hardly
acts as a satisfying source of discovery about the nature of his depravity. We enjoyed the final fight scene in which Denzel uses his wits
and gadgets to fend off death. Still, we were denied access to the dynamics that would
drive a villain to such infamy, and for that, we sensed a kind of void and
disappointment.
