Kiss the Girls


Kiss the Girls is a mystery thriller in the spirit of Scream and Seven, with slightly less gore and suspense, but quite entertaining all around.

A serial killer (who's really a collector) is preying on young beautiful and independent girls in North Carolina. Detective Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman), a forensic psychologist, gets involved when he learns that his niece Naomi (Gina Ravera) is one of of the victims. Finding the first victim who has escaped from the the kidnaper, dubbed "Casanova" lends support to Freeman's conviction that his niece is still alive. The victim, Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd), a young medical intern, teams up with Cross to find the kidnaper.

Morgan Freeman's acting is excellent, as usual. The chemistry between him and Ashley Judd is good. There are many awkward moments, especially when Cross deals with the North Carolina police, but Freeman and Judd really shine in the non-social settings. The cinematography (Aaron Schneider), which is dark and has a lot of in-your-face shots, lends to the suspense, as does the score by Mark Isham.

For a movie that is based on sex to a great degree, there isn't much of it. This is perhaps indicative of why any sort of objectification occurs in life: there is a destructive tendency that seeks to spoil the unspoiled. This aspect of the movie, which is its most promising, is explored only to a very small degree.


Movie ram-blings || Ram Samudrala || me@ram.org