This week at the movie

By Yvette Herrera

Get ready for yet another psychological suspense thriller adapted from James Patterson’s first highly acclaimed novel in the Alex Cross series. “Along Came a Spider,” staring Morgan Freeman, is about a Washington, D.C., police detective and psychologist who is tired of playing mind games with criminals.

Well, that is until a methodical predator, Gary Soneji, commits a daring kidnapping, which lures Cross into the case. Soneji doesn’t care about ransom. All he wants is a place in history books. Soneji knows exactly how to get to Cross. He leaves a piece of evidence in Cross’ mailbox. Soneji’s motive — to commit the crime of the century.

Detective Cross works with Secret Service Agent Jezzie Flannigan, played by Monica Potter. Together, they work their way around clues given by Soneji, while at the same time keeping in mind past experiences with kidnappers.

Director Lee Tamahori compares Morgan to classic American actors Clint Eastwood and Gary Cooper. He says he is silent and still. This allows the audience to do much of the work rather than the actors, which compiles a great thriller.

David Brown, a producer of the film, has worked with Freeman three other times in “Kiss the Girls,” “Deep Impact” and “Driving Miss Daisy.”
In a press release, Brown said that when he read the script, he found many surprises.

“It has the primary Alex Cross character, but the piece basically stands alone,” Brown said.

Potter seemed very comfortable working with Freeman. In fact, in a press release she said, “He’s the best actor I’ve ever worked with. He treated me like his partner, his equal, and that was very endearing because I was really nervous to work with him. I mean, Morgan is the type of actor that doesn’t have to say a word.”

Freeman enjoyed his role as a detective.

“His particular strength is he’s a mind hunter,” Freeman said in a press release. “It’s fun to play because it’s more cerebral than active.” “Along Came a Spider” starts Friday and is rated R. Running time is 104 minutes.

Yvette Herrera
y.m.herrera@student.tcu.edu