Mystery Movie Review - Kiss the Girls

 This 1997 movie was based on James Patterson's best-selling 1995 novel of the same name. It has neo-noir touches within a psychological thriller framework.  Four years after "Kiss the Girls," a film adaptation of another in the Alex Cross novels "Along Came a Spider" was released in 2001 where Morgan Freeman starred as Cross. 

Later, the franchise was rebooted with a 2012 adaptation of the novel Cross, titled "Alex Cross," starring Tyler Perry rather than Morgan Freeman. Currently there is a television series titled "Cross" on Paramount+ or Prime Video starring Aldis Hodge from "Leverage."  The television series thus far has 4 award wins & 20 nominations.

     

What it's about:

Washington D.C. Detective and forensic psychologist Dr Alex Cross is devastated to learn that his niece, Naomi, a college student in Durham, North Carolina, has been missing for four days. He pulls some strings to tag along with the Durham police investigation

In a parallel plotline, Dr. Kate McTiernan - a doctor and kickboxer - is abducted from her home becoming the latest victim of the "Casanova" kidnapping spree. She wakes up in a stone-walled room sick from the knock-out drugs her abductor used and discovers that other women are held captive with her, including Alex Cross' niece. 

Kate overpowers Casanova with her kickboxing abilities during one of his visits and escapes running through the woods. She is later found and taken to a hospital. Before long, Cross and Kate join forces to hunt down "Casanova" and rescue the remaining captive women.

      

Taglines:

A detective is searching for a deadly collector. His only hope is the woman who got away.

Smart Girls. Pretty Girls. Missing Girls.

      

Cast:

Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross Ashley Judd as Kate McTiernan Cary Elwes as Nick Ruskin Brian Cox as Chief Hatfield Tony Goldwyn as William Rudolph Jay O. Sanders as Kyle Craig Gina Ravera as Naomi Cross Roma Maffia as Dr. Ruocco Jeremy Piven as Henry Castillo William Converse-Roberts as Dr. Wick Sachs Writer: James Patterson and David Klass Director: Gary Fleder

Rated R  1 hour 55 minutes

      

Rotten Tomatoes and critics reviews:

35% critics, 62% audiences 

Critics were mostly critical while audiences appreciated it more for its entertainment value.

     

Noteworthy awards or rankings:

1998 Satellite Awards:

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Drama: Ashley Judd nominee

      

1998, 1999 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards:

1999 Favorite Actress - Video:  Ashley Judd nominee

1998 Favorite Actor - Suspense: Morgan Freeman nominee 

1998 Favorite Actress - Suspense: Ashley Judd nominee

1998 Favorite Supporting Actor - Suspense: Cary Elwes Nominee

        

Trivia (from IMDB & others):

• Principal photography began on April 16, 1996  and was completed on July 10. The film was shot two weeks on location in North Carolina on the streets of Durham, in nearby county parks, and outside a Chapel Hill, North Carolina residence. 

• The police station was constructed in a downtown Durham warehouse.

• The majority of filming occurred in the Los Angeles area, with locations including the Disney Ranch, The Athenaeum at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, a house in the Adams historic district of Los Angeles, and on the campus of the University of Southern California in University Park. 

• Designed by American production designer Nelson Coates, the majority of the sets, including the tunnels and underground chambers, were constructed in sound stages on the Paramount Studios lot. 

• The film was not shown in some theaters in central Virginia at the time of release, due to the unsolved murders of three teenage girls in the area. This decision was out of respect for the families and surrounding communities. The murders were eventually solved.

• Ashley Judd took kick-boxing lessons from stuntman David Lea before filming. She insisted on doing many of her own stunts, but the studio finally put its foot down when she wanted to leap off a 150-foot waterfall. A stuntman, wearing a wig, made the jump instead, narrowly missing the rocks as he plummeted through the falls to the water below.

My Thoughts:

Great cast in this thriller. The book went into more graphic violence which, thankfully, wasn't included in the movie. It does have toned down and minimal violence. 

I have to hand it to the two lead stars. Morgan Freeman brings what could be a very dry role (a forensic psychologist isn't very sexy or flashy) skillfully handling making the character smart and compassionate, a touch cunning, but above all very human. Ashley Judd delivers in this difficult role of a smart and successful woman dealing with PTSD and guilt over escaping without the other captives. It's a dichotomy that takes skill and I feel her portrayal was deftly done.  

I also have to say that the movie aged well (in my opinion) as I recently re-watched it. I felt I picked up more of the nuanced acting and gained a new appreciation. It is atmospheric, the cinematography gives it the noir mood with some tension and Hitchcock-esque building of suspense. The music, while not stellar, is effective and appropriate without overpowering scenes. I don't know if this movie was par for the moment it came out but re-watching it in today's movie landscape it shines a bit brighter or I just love older movies.

There are twists to the storyline to keep it interesting, the final twist providing a gripping climatic crescendo. I appreciated that as much as I do a tense killer reveal/confrontation in books.  

I know it isn't perfect, and you can view it with a critical eye and find those imperfections, or go into it for the entertainment value and have a good movie night.  I don't think the movie was ever aiming for an Oscar, rather an engrossing time, pure escapist movie time. Mission accomplished in my opinion.

       

Please share in the comments your thoughts on this movie. I would love to hear from you.

          

Movie Trailer:

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Review - 1st to Die

James Patterson is well known whether you read his books or not. He writes multiple books every year by collaborating with other authors. Thus, he is one of the best paid authors around. Reportedly his books often account for one in 17 hardcover books sold in the U.S. and has sold over 400 million copies worldwide as of 2022. He holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers by a single author. Several of his books have either become movies, television shows, and even video games. 

Patterson has been called the "world’s best-selling author and a publishing phenomenon."  He has received the Edgar Award, the National Book Foundation's Literarian Award, and the National Humanities Medal.  But did you know he founded the ReadKiddoRead website to encourage children's reading?  He also donated over $1.75 million to U.S. public schools, $1 million to independent bookstores in 2015 alone, and provided thousands of grants to school libraries and independent bookstores. 

This particular series is now up to its twenty-sixth book, but I'm starting with the first in the series here.  I haven't read any books in this series before, so let's see how I like it.

Author: James Patterson

Copyright: March 2001 (Little Brown & Co.) 488 pgs

Series: 1st in Women's Murder Club series

Sensuality: Some violence with clinical descriptions mostly, swearing, and adult topics and situations.  PG-18

Mystery Sub-genre: Police Procedural, police thriller

Main Character: Inspector Lindsey Boxer of the Homicide Squad

Setting: Modern day San Francisco, California

Obtained Through: Library

Book Blurb: "Each one holds a piece of the puzzle: Lindsay Boxer is a homicide inspector in the San Francisco Police Department, Claire Washburn is a medical examiner, Jill Bernhardt is an assistant D.A., and Cindy Thomas just started working the crime desk of the San Francisco Chronicle.

But the usual procedures aren't bringing them any closer to stopping the killings. So these women form a Women's Murder Club to collaborate outside the box and pursue the case by sidestepping their bosses and giving each other a hand.

The four women develop intense bonds as they pursue a killer whose crimes have stunned an entire city. Working together, they track down the most terrifying and unexpected killer they have ever encountered—before a shocking conclusion in which everything they knew turns out to be devastatingly wrong."

My Thoughts:

Lindsey Boxer is headstrong and determined, she isn't immediately likeable but she did grow on me as I learned more about her.  Each of the others in the club, Jill, Claire, and Cindy, are brought into the group by Lindsey. Her closest friend is Claire, the ME, and that was natural, but Cindy being a reporter that police usually avoid is a strange pick, and Jill being the Assist. DA wasn't an obvious choice either but it all works and they are becoming friends primarily. Lindsey needs a support group and so do each of these career driven ladies.

San Francisco is a big city as well as a busy tourist spot which is key to the story.  The wedding industry has become a bemouth the last few decades and this plot utilizes that as the central theme for a serial killer to target people in a large city full of local or destination weddings. It makes the murders shocking and Lindsey reacts emotionally to them.

The tension builds throughout the story. I felt the book moved along between the investigation, more murders, and Lindsey's personal life. In between all of that is the gradual formation of the Women's Murder Club. The concept of collaborating the investigation among police, ME, DA, and press is great. Wish that was the makeup of police task forces that get created today.

The climax was nail-biting tense and heartbreaking. My heart was pounding just reading it. What an emotional and adrenaline inducing killer confrontation.

The one thing I wish were improved upon is a man trying to write from a woman's perspective--it didn't work in some instances. There were little references where a woman would never have inner dialog like that.  I don't believe it was intentional, but it shows a male's viewpoint in several places (a woman's "fragile courage" is used- you would never say a man's fragile courage. That is a man's perspective). Just understand this handicap when reading it.

This is a gripping and entertaining novel with twists and turns, I appreciate the four women in the club are all strong female characters which we need more of in novels. I want to note how the human element is recognized in the story, not relegated to an afterthought or footnote. This is a strong genre book delivering a memorable police thriller.  I immediately started on the second in the series.

If you haven't read this book before and don't mind grittier mysteries, this could be for you.  If you have read it before, please leave your thoughts on it in the comments -- I would love to hear from you.

Rating: Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend. 

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Here is a great interview with James Patterson, well worth watching.