Basically this is a movie that offers nothing new. It's a typical genre movie with all of the typical elements and twists. It's not a bad movie, it's just not original and surprising enough.
"The Bone Collector" is your typical average thriller. Whenever I have to mention an average and typical thriller, "The Bone Collector" always springs to mind. It's an average movie in basically every way thinkable and is only made interesting and worthwhile to watch thanks to the presence of Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.
Phillip Noyce is not really a favorite actor of mine. His movies always seem to lack in style and they are well made but yet in a very simplistic manner. He's a director that hardly takes any risks with his movies, with as a result that all of his works are typical and average movies, that often add very little new to the genre.
But I think still the biggest problem with this movie is its story. It's just too standard and formulaic. Basically when you've seen only a couple of thrillers before in your life, you've also already seen "The Bone Collector", since it adds so little new to the genre. The story progresses in a predictable manner and the story also features the usual expected twists and turns in it. On top of that some story elements and characters just don't work out in the movie.
It's the type of thriller in which basically every male character is a suspect but yet the movie doesn't mange to become truly suspenseful or surprising. Therefor it as a thriller also just isn't the most effective movie around.
Luckily the movie still has a good cast. I can't imaging how this movie would had been like with a different cast filled with unknowns. Denzel Washington plays a good role, even though he plays a character that is bound to his bed and has lost almost all of his body functions. The movie is an early Angelina Jolie movie, or at least its from the time period before her real glory days but she obviously already shows her talent in this movie, although I think that her character isn't always handled well but this was perhaps more the director fault. The love story between Washington and Jolie also doesn't really feel credible and perhaps the movie would had been better off without it. Besides them two, the movie also features some other fine actors in supporting roles such as the always surprising great Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker, Luis Guzmán, Leland Orser and Ed O'Neill in an early serious movie role from him.
It's an average movie and therefor nothing too bad but just don't expect anything brilliant or original either.
6/10
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