... That movie was “Along Came A Spider” – a crime thriller that has now been released on DVD and video. I was therefore quite keen to get my hands on a copy, and last night I settled down to enjoy a film that I had been looking forward to for some time.
Sadly, I’m afraid ... Read review
After an obligatory prologue in which its detective hero suffers a tragic professional ... more
setback,Along Came a Spider(based on the James Patterson novel) sets about its business of luring the viewer into its nefarious plot, relying on the magician's techn...
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Morgan Freeman respires his Kiss the Girls role as Alex Cross in this spellbinding ... more
psychological thriller that is a knockout with a surprise twist.After the harrowing death of his partner, detective and best-selling author Alex Cross has retreated to t...
After an obligatory prologue in which its detective hero suffers a tragic professional ... more
setback,Along Came a Spider(based on the James Patterson novel) sets about its business of luring the viewer into its nefarious plot, relying on the magician's techn...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
The spectacular international bestseller that introduced Washington-based homicide ... more
detective Alex Cross and launched James Patterson's career as one of the fastest-selling thriller writers in the world -- now reissued in striking new cover style. He had always wanted to be famous. When he kidnapped two well-known rich kids, it was headline news.
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The spectacular international bestseller that introduced Washington-based homicide ... more
detective Alex Cross and launched James Patterson's career as one of the fastest-selling thriller writers in the world -- now reissued in striking new cover style. He had always wanted to be famous. When he kidnapped two well-known rich kids it was headline news. Then one of them was found -- dead -- and the whole nation was in uproar. For such a high-profile case they needed the top people -- Alex Cross a black detective with a PhD in psychology and Jezzie Flanagan an ambitious young Secret Service agent -- yet even they were no match for the killer. He had the unnerving ability to switch from blood-crazed madness to clear-eyed sanity in an instant. But was he the helpless victim of a multiple-personality disorder -- or a brilliant cold-blooded manipulator?
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Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Along Came A Spider is a thriller through and through – and to be fair, it doesn’t disappoint in terms of action. The film romps along at a considerable pace, and free from the shackles of a love interest, or emotional plot, it focuses on encouraging the viewer to spot the clues. Nonetheless, despite the frequent twists and turns in the story line, I’m sure I won’t be the only person to conclude that ... ...films that don’t make sense, Along Came A Spider will certainly keep you busy.
The film also suffers from comparison to other, better films. A cross-city chase involving Alex running across Washington from one phone to another bears more than a passing resemblance to a similar sequence in Dirty Harry – and whilst these things may look cunning in films, anyone who uses a mobile phone will find themselves scoffing at the ... more
On a visit to the cinema several months ago, I vaguely recall seeing a trailer for a forthcoming movie that starred Morgan Freeman that promised to be very good. That movie was “Along Came A Spider” – a crime thriller that has now been released on DVD and video. I was therefore quite keen to get my hands on a copy, and last night I settled down to enjoy a film that I had been looking forward to for some time.
Sadly, I’m afraid the trailer was probably better than the actual film – in fact, I would probably suggest that Hollywood should employ some of the trailer editors as film makers, because I’m sure they could do a better job than this. Fans of the thriller and suspense movie genre will probably like this film, but the promise of anything out of the ordinary was never fulfilled, and there was nothing that raised this film out of the mire of mediocrity.
The plot is (at face value) rather simple. When a congressman’s daughter is kidnapped from school, whilst under Secret Service protection, a massive man hunt kicks off to find the girl’s kidnapper. When the kidnapper contacts police detective (and criminal profiler) Alex Cross, it quickly becomes apparent that this is not a straight forward case, and that the kidnapper has higher designs than his current prey. But all is not what it seems, and Cross finds himself caught up in an extremely tangled web indeed…
I was rather pessimistic about this film from just over 5 minutes into it. The film opens with Cross heavily involved in an undercover mission to capture a sex offender – but things quickly go wrong, and Cross’s partner is accidentally killed in a car accident. Where this went wrong was the dreadfully amateur special effects employed in the accident scene – which closely resembled Play station graphics. No serious film maker would allow such a visually embarrassing sequence to open his latest film, and for me, this didn’t bode well for the rest of the movie.
Along Came A Spider is a thriller through and through – and to be fair, it doesn’t disappoint in terms of action. The film romps along at a considerable pace, and free from the shackles of a love interest, or emotional plot, it focuses on encouraging the viewer to spot the clues. Nonetheless, despite the frequent twists and turns in the story line, I’m sure I won’t be the only person to conclude that it was all rather predictable in the end. The trailers I had seen, and reviews I had read, suggested that the story would develop into something much more sinister than you would expect – but this was never really the case. The speed of the plot could not make up for the obvious, implausible holes in what was going on – if you’re one of those people who frequently spots things in films that don’t make sense, Along Came A Spider will certainly keep you busy.
The film also suffers from comparison to other, better films. A cross-city chase involving Alex running across Washington from one phone to another bears more than a passing resemblance to a similar sequence in Dirty Harry – and whilst these things may look cunning in films, anyone who uses a mobile phone will find themselves scoffing at the idea of an unbroken cell phone signal for such a significant duration (including in the city subway system). The film tries to be hi-tech, with the schoolgirl and her class mates seemingly portrayed as Internet wizards – but this is a plot element that is used clumsily, and never really works with the characters employed.
Despite the presence of the consistently excellent Morgan Freeman, the cast of the film does little to lift things.
Monica Potter (previously unknown to me) plays Jezzie Flannigan – the disgraced Secret Service agent who failed to stop the girl’s kidnap and subsequently partners up with Cross. Potter’s performance is neither good nor bad – which could probably be said about most of the cast. She also bears a startling vocal resemblance to Julia Roberts (the film makers obviously couldn’t afford the real thing). Perhaps the most memorable performance is that of Michael Wincott, who plays Gary Soneji –the little girl’s kidnapper. Wincott’s harsh features and sinister voice are well suited to the role and he is a convincing bad guy.
Even more disappointing were the selection of extra features on the DVD. Aside from the theatrical trailer, only a 15 minute “Making Of” featurette is offered – and this is pretty dreadful. Given that the film is technically quite unsophisticated, a making of film seems rather unnecessary, and this one basically comprises footage from the film with banal narrative from the actors talking about their respective roles.
Fundamentally, as you may have gathered, Along Came A Spider was something of a disappointment to me. Don’t get me wrong – compared to many films I have seen this was quite superior, but in its relative class and genre, the whole thing was rather lacklustre. As a piece of mindless escapism, it’s probably ok, but if you want something a bit more stimulating then you would be advised to stay well clear!
Advantages: Good story, plenty of twists in the tale, keeps you engrossed Disadvantages: Very poor special effects at the beginning mar this
...young.
Eye candy comes along in the form of Jezzie Flanagan, played by Monica Potter, a young Secret Service agent at the school that Megan attended, who begs Dr. Cross to allow her to help him find Megan. She looks like a blonde Sandra Bullock, and has those expressive doe-like eyes that can tear at a moments notice. She and Dr. Cross pursue the kidnapper in the hope of finding Megan Rose.
As I said though, there are plenty of twists and turns ...
poet831 11.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Along Came A Spider (DVD)
...been applied to that movie. Along Came A Spider is his secpnd movie appearance...and nothing has changed. The movie is good, but at the end when its all ironed out you'll wonder why all the twists and turns when the solution was a mere step away.
The movie opens with a 'sting' being carried out on a serial killer. An undercover police woman wearing a wire is posing as his next victim, the passenger in his sports car which is being tailed by more ... ...The games have begun.
Along Came A Spider has plot twist, after plot twist, after plot twist - in fact you could argue that it has one twist too many for its own good. However, no matter how convoluted the plot gets it is still easy to follow because Patterson's style is not to confuse with trivialities and over-complications but simply to entertain. This is brought through by the director here, so do not think that this is a movie which might lose ...
wampyrii 05.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Along Came A Spider (DVD)
Advantages: Morgan Freeman Disadvantages: A little long. Some weak links in the acting.
I don’t know what’s going on here. Normally, I just ready myself to tear seven shades of slit out of any movie that sets about showing itself off as an intelligent thriller. Normally these so-called intelligent thrillers are about as predictable as an episode of Scooby Do (except the brilliant Scooby Do on Zombie Island – a much watch). “Along Came A Spider” is different and it is different for two reasons; the critics ... ...and I don’t normally.
The criticisms of “Along Came A Spider” that I’ve read often seem to suggest that film lacked bite. I’ve read that the initial action scene sets the movie up to be truly great and then it fails to follow through. Well, lets not be too surprised to discover that the initial scene has car chases and things going boom. These critics who pretend they’re above explosions and really into some serious ...
Manx 31.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Along Came A Spider (DVD)
Advantages: Good thriller that manages to keep us guessing Disadvantages: The basic premise is somewhat old hat
Along came a Spider is, in general terms, nothing that we haven’t all seen before, but Spider manages to be just that little bit different to make this a thriller definitely worth watching.
Morgan Freeman stars as a cop who recently lost his partner in the line of duty. He feels that he failed her and as a result hasn’t been working. Monica Potter plays a secret service agent who is posted at a school that educates the children of influential ... ...child is kidnapped from the school (the daughter of a Senator), Potter feels she has failed in her job to protect them and when the kidnapper draws Freeman into his games, Freeman reluctantly lets Potter team up with him to bring the kidnapper down.
Like I said, nothing new there, but this is different in the way that the events all unfold. The kidnapper’s agenda is to commit the crime of the century and not is all as it seems. The acting ...
Staggly 21.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Along Came A Spider (DVD)
Advantages: Great Plot, Suprise Twist, Great Acting Disadvantages: Bumbling Bad Guy
Intrigue, deception and suspense is what ‘Along came a Spider’ promised you and that’s exactly what you got. This is the second adaptation of a James Patterson novel and the prequel to the 1996 film and novel by the same author ‘Kiss the Girls’. I was lucky to catch this film at a special preview at my Students Union Cinema and even though it was free I would pay a normal price to see it as it was a really great film. ... ...returns as the detective charged with the unravelling of a complicated kidnapping. As with the first movie Morgan Freeman (Amistad 1997) returns and carries on with the detective role that films such as ‘Se7en’ illustrate to be one of his best characters. In fact the films laurels rest both on his shoulders and the plot. This time, however, he teams up with Secret Service Agent Jezzie Flanigan, acted by Monica Potter (Patch Adams 1998), ...
Saul_Walker 07.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Along Came A Spider (DVD)
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Advantages: if you like morgan freeman he stars in them all! Disadvantages: not a collection of Morgan Freemans best work
extra features
ALONGCAME A SPIDER genre Thriller/Crime/Mystery/Drama
Directed by
Lee Tamahori
Writing credits
James Patterson (novel)
Marc Moss (screenplay
Plot Line
Freeman again takes on the role of Alex Cross, detective and Forensic Psycologist in a poltline involving the kidnap of a senator's daughter at school who was supposed to be under the protection of the CIA. Though what you might expect from a kidnapper and their demands is not all that it seems as it isn't money they are motivated by but what is it that they want?..... Cross with the aid of the agent Jessi Flannagan, played by Monica Potter who failed to protect the girl are on a mission to discover the truth about the kidnapper's motives and with the aid of Cross's profiling the truth becomes clearer ...
Dolby Digital 5.0 Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review
"...The weblike story is an engagingly sticky trap of mind games and plot tricks as well as action..." (Entertainment Weekly, p.48, 13/04/2001)
"...What Freeman has is the gift of reality....He imbues the detective with dignity, grace and presence..." (Los Angeles Times, p.2, 06/04/2001)
"...Well assembled....Lee Tamahori brings terse efficiency to the project..." (Sight and Sound, p.38, 01/06/2001)
"...Freeman brings dignity and weight to [his role]....A well-polished puzzle that dishes out enough clues to keep viewers engaged while holding back a couple of well-delivered surprises..." (Total Film, p.96, 01/06/2001)
"...Freeman strides with noble authority..." (USA Today, p.6E, 06/04/2001)
DVD Description
The redoubtable Morgan Freeman returns as Washington, DC police detective Alex Cross, the master profiler, in an exciting thriller based on James Patterson's novel, ALONG CAME A SPIDER. The film is actually a prequel to the box office blockbuster KISS THE GIRLS. Here, Cross is pursuing a brilliantly twisted kidnapper who's holding the daughter of a U.S. senator. When the kidnapper, Gary Soneji (the effectively sinister character actor, Michael Wincott), who had posed as a schoolteacher for two years before making his move, contacts Cross and taunts him, but makes no demands for money, Cross starts to piece together a psychological profile. With the help of a clever and beautiful Secret Service agent, Jezzie Flannigan (Monica Potter), Cross begins his investigation of the bizarrely elaborate and ruthless crime. But as is usual with Patterson's work, just when Cross (and the audience) thinks everything is resolved, a stunning twist unfolds. Acclaimed director Lee Tamahori (THE EDGE, ONCE WERE WARRIORS) is adept at staging the action, including a tense chase through Union Station during rush hour, and Freeman's pensive presence lends an extra level of gravity to this darkly entertaining thriller.
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