Kiss the Girls (1997)

Director:

Gary Fleder

Writers (WGA):

James Patterson (novel)
David Klass (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A detective is searching for a deadly collector. His only hope is the woman who got away.

Plot:

Police hunting for a serial killer are helped when a victim manages to escape for the first time.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Serial Killer | Casanova | Kidnapping | Police

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Morgan Freeman	...	Dr. Alex Cross
Ashley Judd	...	Dr. Kate McTiernan
Cary Elwes	...	Det. Nick Ruskin
Alex McArthur	...	Det. Davey Sikes
Tony Goldwyn	...	Dr. William 'Will' Rudolph
Jay O. Sanders	...	FBI Agent Kyle Craig
Bill Nunn	...	Det. John Sampson
Brian Cox	...	Chief Hatfield, Durham P.D.
Richard T. Jones	...	Seth Samuel
Roma Maffia	...	Dr. Ruocco
Jeremy Piven	...	Henry Castillo, LAPD
Gina Ravera	...	Naomi Cross
William Converse-Roberts	...	Dr. Wick Sachs
Helen Martin	...	Nana Cross
Tatyana Ali	...	Janell Cross (as Tatyana M. Ali)

MPAA:

Rated R for terror, violence and language.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #34956) | South Korea:18 | Philippines:PG-13 | Netherlands:12 (TV version) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KNT | Brazil:14 | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Bell Tower, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Cross is seen training boxers at the start of the movie. 'Morgan Freeman' would train boxers on film again years later in Million Dollar Baby (2004), the role that netted him an Oscar.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Kate's mouth does not move when she says, "At least now the FBI know who they're looking for."

Quotes:

Dr. Kate McTiernan: [Kate is under hypnosis, reliving her escape from Casanova] I hear him, whispering.
Alex Cross: [about Casanova] What does he say?
Dr. Kate McTiernan: I can feel his mouth on my ear, his breath. He tells me that he loves me.
Alex Cross: Tell me about his face. Tell me about his eyes. His mouth.
Dr. Kate McTiernan: [Kate's breathing begins to quicken] He has no face. A mask! He always wears a mask!
Alex Cross: What kind of mask? What does it look like?
Dr. Kate McTiernan: [her breathing slows] It changes. I can't show him that I hate him.
Alex Cross: But you escape. What do you see when you escape?
Dr. Kate McTiernan: I don't know. I'm just running. And my legs... are heavy from the drugs. And I'm lost. I'm running through hallways and there are all these rooms, I don't know where to turn!
[becomes panicked, starts to cry]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in High Crimes (2002)

Soundtrack:

Goodnight Irene

Still better than average.

This movie is not among the best but still has more to offer than the average thriller. This is mostly due to its cast and fine thriller concept, that however doesn't always gets handled well.

Not all plot-lines get handled and wrapped up properly and the movie leaves some loose ends. The movie also picks some not so likely approaches with each story sometimes, which goes at the expensive of the credibility- and therefore also the tension of the movie.

It's a movie that had the potential of becoming a real dark and eerie thriller, I mean the concept of the movie would definitely allow this but the movie gets somewhere stuck between its successful and not so successful thriller moments.

Guess Morgan Freeman wanted to make another "Se7en" like thriller. Well, it's not completely fair to compare this movie to "Se7en" but because Morgan Freeman is in it and it's from about the same period, it's easy and tempting to do so. Also with some imagination the plots and approaches of both movies show some similarities. But unfortunately "Kiss the Girls" is nowhere in the same league as "Se7en" but fans of the genre will still find plenty to enjoy in this movie.

The movie features all of the right required thriller ingredients. So a psychopath, a cop trying to solve the case and of course a couple of plot twists. It also has all the right looks for a thriller. The movie has the right sort of dark undertone and handles some of its moments effectively.

The movie truly benefits from its cast. Morgan Freeman is an experienced actor and always good in these sort of roles. The movie also among other features; Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, Bill Nunn, Brian Cox and Jeremy Piven.

A better than average thriller.

7/10