When a congressman's daughter under Secret Service protection is kidnapped from a private school, detective Alex Cross investigates the case even though he's recovering from the loss of his partner.
A woman framed for her husband's murder suspects he is still alive; as she has already been tried for the crime, she can't be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him.
Director:
Bruce Beresford
Stars:
Ashley Judd,
Tommy Lee Jones,
Bruce Greenwood
High powered lawyer Claire Kubik finds her world turned upside down when her husband, who has been living under a false name, is arrested by military police and placed on trial for the murder of villagers while he was in the Marines.
When the daughter of a psychiatrist is kidnapped, he's horrified to discover that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a post traumatic stress disorder suffering young woman who knows a secret...
Director:
Gary Fleder
Stars:
Michael Douglas,
Sean Bean,
Brittany Murphy
CIA analyst Jack Ryan must stop the plans of a Neo Nazis faction that threatens to induce a catastrophic conflict between the United States and Russia's newly elected president by detonating a nuclear weapon at a football game in Baltimore.
A young boy who witnessed the suicide of a mafia lawyer hires an attorney to protect him when the District Attorney tries to use him to take down a mob family.
Director:
Joel Schumacher
Stars:
Susan Sarandon,
Tommy Lee Jones,
Brad Renfro
In a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, a skilled police negotiator accused of corruption and murder takes hostages in a government office to gain the time he needs to find the truth.
Director:
F. Gary Gray
Stars:
Samuel L. Jackson,
Kevin Spacey,
David Morse
Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor is a man who has everything but what he craves most: the love and fidelity of his wife. A hugely successful player in the New York financial world, ... See full summary »
Director:
Andrew Davis
Stars:
Michael Douglas,
Gwyneth Paltrow,
Viggo Mortensen
Detective/psychologist Alex Cross loses his partner in an out of control 'bust.' He stops working and cannot forgive himself. He is drawn back to work reluctantly when a senator's daughter is kidnapped and the kidnapper seems to want to deal with Alex personally.Written by
Lindsay
Mika Boorem (Megan) and Anton Yelchin (Dimitri) also appear in Hearts in Atlantis (2001), as Carol and Bobby. See more »
Goofs
When Sonji strangles the woman in the office, she is supposed to be dead but when they show her she is blinking. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Tracie:
Tonight was your first night at the club, wasn't it?
Jim:
No. I've been there a few times before.
Tracie:
Really? Well, how come I haven't seen you?
Jim:
I noticed you the first night I walked in. You always stand out.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The final two characters listed are Man Who Can't Answer Phone and Potentially Evil Guy On Train See more »
Along Came a Spider is not a bad movie all in all. It is just a generic movie and a pretty decent generic movie at that. Lets face it, every plot is based on clichés. What counts is how these clichés are used. The screenwriter's challenge is this: Can he blow enough smoke and juggle his mirrors in such a way as to make the viewer believe he is seeing something new or, at least, enjoy the same old crap? Shakespeare did it. Dickens did it. Stephen King has made a career out of it. The problem with Along Came a Spider is that no-frills clichés are all you get, basic and unadorned. The movie's ad campaign should have featured bare white posters, a bar code and the word `Thriller' printed in the middle. Okay, I overstate. You do get Morgan Freeman and Michael Wincott. Mr. Freeman has never given a bad performance and doesn't start with this film. Mr. Wincott is also very, very good. He makes you feel a little sorry for his character despite his murderous escapades. You rather want to comfort him when the inevitable problems start cropping up.
To make sure you are getting your moneys worth, the writers have thrown in a `Guaranteed Surprise Ending". Now some movies sport twist endings that are knockouts. These endings not only come as genuine surprises and are completely satisfying; they force you to reconsider everything that went before in the film. Think of The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects or The Crying Game. First, in all these movies the ending was prepared for. No matter how unexpected ultimately the twists make sense in the terms of the logic of the movie. Second, you recognize these movies as superior long before you reach the conclusion. Had The Sixth Sense ended five minutes before it did you still would have remembered the performances, the genuinely scary moments and the fantastic plot. The twist came as icing on an already fine cake. Along Came A Spider has a surprise ending because, well, 'Thrillers' have `Surprise Endings'. That's all. You probably won't guess it, but even so you won't be all that surprised. You will realize that since because such and such happens, the movie can only end in two or three different ways. Like the rest of the movie the twist is mechanical and non-descript. It's satisfying enough but it operates more as a punctuation mark than anything else.
This sounds like a pretty negative review - and I guess it is. In fairness I should say I enjoyed myself watching it. A predictable experience is not necessarily a bad experience. Sometimes all you want is a no frills `Thriller'. You have a taste in your mouth for guns and psychopaths and you've already seen Hannibal, so what do you do? Sure, a movie that sautés it's clichés with a bit more sauce and spice would be preferable, but if your only other option is a Matlock rerun, Along Came A Spider looks pretty darn good!
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Along Came a Spider is not a bad movie all in all. It is just a generic movie and a pretty decent generic movie at that. Lets face it, every plot is based on clichés. What counts is how these clichés are used. The screenwriter's challenge is this: Can he blow enough smoke and juggle his mirrors in such a way as to make the viewer believe he is seeing something new or, at least, enjoy the same old crap? Shakespeare did it. Dickens did it. Stephen King has made a career out of it. The problem with Along Came a Spider is that no-frills clichés are all you get, basic and unadorned. The movie's ad campaign should have featured bare white posters, a bar code and the word `Thriller' printed in the middle. Okay, I overstate. You do get Morgan Freeman and Michael Wincott. Mr. Freeman has never given a bad performance and doesn't start with this film. Mr. Wincott is also very, very good. He makes you feel a little sorry for his character despite his murderous escapades. You rather want to comfort him when the inevitable problems start cropping up.
To make sure you are getting your moneys worth, the writers have thrown in a `Guaranteed Surprise Ending". Now some movies sport twist endings that are knockouts. These endings not only come as genuine surprises and are completely satisfying; they force you to reconsider everything that went before in the film. Think of The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects or The Crying Game. First, in all these movies the ending was prepared for. No matter how unexpected ultimately the twists make sense in the terms of the logic of the movie. Second, you recognize these movies as superior long before you reach the conclusion. Had The Sixth Sense ended five minutes before it did you still would have remembered the performances, the genuinely scary moments and the fantastic plot. The twist came as icing on an already fine cake. Along Came A Spider has a surprise ending because, well, 'Thrillers' have `Surprise Endings'. That's all. You probably won't guess it, but even so you won't be all that surprised. You will realize that since because such and such happens, the movie can only end in two or three different ways. Like the rest of the movie the twist is mechanical and non-descript. It's satisfying enough but it operates more as a punctuation mark than anything else.
This sounds like a pretty negative review - and I guess it is. In fairness I should say I enjoyed myself watching it. A predictable experience is not necessarily a bad experience. Sometimes all you want is a no frills `Thriller'. You have a taste in your mouth for guns and psychopaths and you've already seen Hannibal, so what do you do? Sure, a movie that sautés it's clichés with a bit more sauce and spice would be preferable, but if your only other option is a Matlock rerun, Along Came A Spider looks pretty darn good!