Early in Gary Fleder’s Kiss the Girls, Washington, D.C. forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) goes to North Carolina when he hears his niece, Naomi (Gina Ravera), has been the latest kidnapping victim in a series of young women going missing. On his way, and as he gets settled into the case, there is another kidnapping, Dr. Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd). This time, while the kidnapper has been watching McTiernan for months, they still are not prepared for her tenacity and fighting spirit. Before you can say, “I wonder what will happen to this poor lady,” she has gone out a door, flown across the woods, jumped into a river, and landed at the base of a waterfall. All before the midpoint of the movie.
Life is pretty easy in North Carolina for Alex Cross. He is well respected. He apparently wrote an interesting book that everybody has read, and, all he has to do is say, “Please don’t cut me out of this,” and everyone in a position of power backs off and lets him through. Across the board. There is never any push-back for Alex Cross. Also, it is one of those mysteries where people only remember important information the moment it is needed to further the plot. Dr. McTeirnan is also allowed to follow the detectives everywhere they go without question. She has already shown on a map where she thinks the killer’s lair is located, but she is also allowed to tag along.
Freeman and Judd carry the movie pretty well considering that all other detectives will bend over backwards for them. Jeremy Piven serves as competent comedic relief. Unfortunately, there is a name in the credits that I will not mention here, because it has instant ’80s and ’90s recognizability as the constant bad guy. You see the name and you know most of the ending of Kiss the Girls, and you can see that ending from a mile away.
The only bonus features are subtitles in English and English for the deaf and hard of hearing.
