11/1/99: Every time a movie about serial killers comes out, it is instantly compared to Silence of the Lambs and Seven. It's easy to see why, those two movies set the standard for how they should work. The brilliant killer vs. the brilliant cop. The killer always leaves completely obscure clues that only our hero can figure out. The Bone Collector is no different, way below the others, but better than recent crap like Kiss the Girls.

This time around the brilliant cop is Lincoln Rhyme and he's got the usual death wish, but the twist is he's a paraplegic. Denzel Washington is good as always. Angelina Jolie is Amelia, a beat cop who stumbles upon the first of the dead. She does an excellent job of interpreting the clues and roping off the crime scene, going so far as to stop a train. This is why Lincoln recruits her, but she has reasons for not wanting to be a detective. He leads her through the crime scenes from his bed, via a headset radio. And of course there's the cliche' angry and stupid police chief, who stands in their way of doing the job right, played by the forever grimacing Michael Rooker.

The killer, a taxi driver, or is he, leaves clues so cryptic that only Lincoln and his team of forensic experts can figure then out. With pieces of dust and a torn book page they can figure out where and when the next death is going to occur. This is where the movie is a little original, it isn't afraid to hurt the audiences feelings with some outrageous deaths. Although it does back out when it comes to a kid. The rest is nothing new, our hero going alone into dark, creepy places, with a flashlight so bright it makes a wooshing sound when it passes. There are really no scares, except the absolute quiet disturbed by a loud noise trick.

Everything is decent enough, the direction, a nice atmospheric score, good gloomy photography, all the performances are passable, just this story has been seen so many times. Your lead to believe the killer is one guy, but at the last second we find out it's someone else. Someone with such a bizarre reason for doing it, it can only happen in the movies.