Christopher Evans The director of this film (Noyce) likes to try to emulate the style of the great Alfred Hitchcock and in the stylish shooting and thriller themes he is again very much making that effort. Sadly though this film is totally unconvincing and preposterous in many ways so it falls very short.The story has Denzel Washington as Rhyme Lincoln, a paraplegic forensic expert whose injuries were sustained in his police work. He continues to advise forensic police and becomes actively involved in investigating a series of killings where the killer leaves clues deliberately. Angelina Jolie plays a young cop who deals well with a crime scene and is then roped in by Washington to be his eyes and ears at subsequent crime scenes.The whole plot is so incredibly hard to believe. The cliched cops pulling in different directions with some acting outside guidelines and others trying to wrestle control of the case away from Lincoln do not quite ring true as a realistic way a police investigation could be carried out but that is a tiny criticism compared to the more glaring issues:Why does Lincoln entrust, and even force, a young inexperienced cop to carry out forensic investigations of crime scenes alone? She did what he thought was the right thing in her initial treatment of a crime scene but that is not remotely convincing as a reason for Lincoln or commanding officers to let this untrained cop loose on crime scenes alone. Not only that but she proves time and time again to be totally inadequate for this role as she is extremely scared and disturbed by the crime scenes and does numerous things which are bizarrely not shown as problems but would, in reality, totally destroy all forensic evidence. She shoots a rat which would spatter rat remains all over the forensic scene, she handles objects before taking any forensic precautions, photos, prints etc. She is slow and reluctant at all times wasting precious time. She does not show any great insight at all until, predictably, discovering the killer is aiming to kill Lincoln. Something Lincoln in his wisdom, fails to spot. Lincoln even pressures her to saw off the hands of a recently killed victim to remove the handcuffs for evidence without ANY forensic treatment of the scene whatsoever. Nobody has photographed the scene, taken prints, searched for evidence in any way yet he wants her to saw through the victim, covering all the evidence with blood just to get the cuffs!! And she is totally unwilling to do it anyway as she is too squeamish. It is totally bizarre!In addition to all the crazily unconvincing police work we have to try to believe the killer is another former forensics guy motivated by revenge against Lincoln for 'ruining his career' and causing him to go to jail for previously mishandling evidence. I guessed thew guy was the killer as soon as I saw him so it was predictable but it is totally unconvincing that motivated by revenge on Lincoln he carries out an incredibly risky and convoluted series of murders going to exceptional trouble to kill innocent people in bizarre ways just so he can leave a trail of clues which, if Lincoln succeeded in unpicking, would stop him from getting his revenge at all!! Indeed Lincoln fails to spot the clues lead to him being the final victim and the killer makes an attempt on Lincoln's life so what was the point of all the murders and clues?!! It lead nowhere and, in fact, the killer had access to Lincoln numerous occasions in his fake role of helping Lincoln so he could have killed him at any time!! If there was a point to the killings, either leading to an otherwise unavailable opportunity to confront Lincoln or in some way disgracing Lincoln that would be good but there is absolutely no point to all the murders and clues at all. The killer just breaks in and attempts to kill Lincoln as he could have done at any point since his release from jail.Washington then manages to fight the killer off despite being a paraplegic which is hard to believe and Angelina Jolie arrives in the nick of time to rescue him in a predictable, cliched anticlimax. Finally, just to top it all off, Lincoln is then shown in a closing scene up and about in a wheelchair seeming inexplicably healthier, stronger and more independent. There is no mention of the seizures that have blighted his recent life or any explanation given for his incredible improvement in ability to be out of the bed he had been confined to. Then Jolie is revealed to be romantically involved with Lincoln in a final, insultingly cliched and unconvincing happy ending.The good things about the film were that it was well filmed visually, the acting of Washington was engaging and high quality as usual, other acting was not bad and there was brainless entertainment from it all if you just completely do not bother to think about any of it. As a result it would be unfair to rate this 1 or 2 out of 10 as there are worse films around but it cannot be higher than a 3 out of 10 really as it is just so badly thought through and unbelievable.

jdhb-768-61234 The Bone Collector is a decent film. A good story, if not terribly original in many ways, but with an excellent central performance from Denzel Washington and fine support from Angelina Jolie, not the best of actresses but not at all bad here.The action is well constructed and elements of suspense are well handled. Washington, as a quadraplegic forensics expert, does a pretty good job from his bed, never moving anything other than his head and a finger, while Jolie plays his amanuensis with some aplomb; Washington's nurse, Queen Latifah as Thelma, plays an excellent understated supporting role, though with a rather shocking end. If there's a criticism, it's the speed with which Jolie moves from being a hater of forensics to a lover of not only forensics but of Washington's expert.The film does rather drag on a bit a and might have been better if it was 10 minutes shorter, though that's a small issue. There's an absence of loud and intrusive background noise for much of the time - Hurrah ! - and the actors' voices are largely audible throughout, which can't be said for many modern films. It may be a bit predictable but then what modern films aren't ? They're all based on 'Cowboys and Indians' one way or another.Overall, it's a good 7.5 which isn't allowed, so 8 it has to be.

The Movie Diorama An extremely overlooked film in my opinion. Yes, Se7en and Silence of the Lambs absolutely annihilate this, but for a 90's detective case it's rather compelling. This is what happens when you cast two great leads, a decent film is produced. Much like any other serial killer story, our main characters must find out who the homicidal maniac is before they kill again. The difference is, the forensic expert is paralysed and so he trains an unwilling rookie to solve the case. Murder case aside, it's all about passing on knowledge and skills to another peer in order to complete a task. Rhyme is unable to do anything, so he envisages his own image within Amelia. Turning her from a rookie cop to the perfect forensic investigator. Highlighting the importance of communication and trust. Fortunately Washington and Jolie have decent on screen chemistry. Both their talents put together to create an explosion of raw acting. Jolie plays a tough yet vulnerable officer, Washington juxtaposes this with an experienced performance. The two amalgamate to create the perfect crime solving entity. The crime scenes themselves were visceral and not easy watches, particularly being scolded to death by oncoming steam. I loved the gritty realism that is sustained throughout. It evokes a sense of mystery, we are attempting to solve the case with the characters. Supporting cast were good, nothing outstanding. Although I wanted more Queen Latifah! The killer's reveal was a letdown unfortunately. The final twenty minutes were rushed to what was an intelligently paced thriller. And thank God we don't have those horrible slow motion frames that were all so apparent in the 90s...just hideously generic. The Bone Collector is a damn good watch, and for any Washington or Jolie fans you are in for a great time.

Tweekums Protagonist Lincoln Rhyme is a former detective and a forensics expert who was left a quadriplegic after an accident. He is not enjoying life and tries to persuade a doctor friend to help him commit suicide… before that can happen he is approached by colleagues wanting help. The film's other protagonist, rookie cop Amelia Donaghy, is the first police officer at a murder scene and impresses Rhyme with the way she processes the scene… so much so that he wants her on the case. The dead man was last seen entering a taxi with his wife and she is still missing. Rhyme, with the help of forensics experts, processes the clues deliberately left by the killer workout where the killer is holding the woman and when he intends to kill her. Donaghy heads to the site with other cops but they are too late to save her. This isn't the end though; clues point to further victims as well as suggesting that the killer is forensically aware and has an interest crimes and locations from the turn of the twentieth century. Before the case can be solved Rhyme and Donaghy will have to decode a lot more clues, deal with incompetent senior officers and face personal danger.This film may contain plenty of clichés but it is still effective. Denzel Washington impresses as Rhyme; apart from the opening flashback scene he spends almost the entire film lying in bed. Angelina Jolie is also good as Donadhy; making us believe in her character even when things get a bit far-fetched. The deaths are a bit gruesome but either take place off screen or the scene ends before things get nasty. The ending is a bit cliché as the killer targets Rhyme and it turns out that everything we've seen is part of his attempt to beat Rhyme as he holds him responsible for things that went wrong in his life. This does at least lead to a fight where an able-bodied is badly injured by quadriplegic man! There are plenty of tense moments throughout the film and the identity of the killer isn't obvious. Overall a solid thriller that fans of the genre should enjoy.