WhatzUp

The Bone Collector
by Derek Neff

A serial killer is on the loose in the city of New York, and only paralyzed detective Rhyme (Denzel Washington) and his trusty forensics sidekick Amelia (Angelina Jolie) can find him. This isn't the kind of serial killer we read about in real life, the truly sick, pathological type who uses pure blind luck, along with his own anonymity, to avoid capture. No, this is the kind of movie where the serial killer seems to be more together than anyone else around him. Some people design buildings for a living. Others teach children. This person's job is to kill. He takes his job seriously, and, heck, he's pretty darn good at it. And, rest assured, when he's captured his motives for killing will be ridiculously clear-cut, logical, merely spiteful.

The narrative pattern of The Bone Collector, which quickly becomes tedious, is a) killer takes another victim b) killer leaves behind an elaborate and precise set of clues at the murder scene that provide the detectives with all they need to solve the next crime, if only they can do it in time c) detectives solve clues at the precise moment when it's too late to do anything about it. What results is a piece of slick trash that Hollywood seems to do uniquely well: over-plotted yet full of holes, with characters that only appear to be using their brains and hearts.