A big-screen precursor to the "CSI" mania that filled
small screens soon after, "The Bone Collector" is a forensics procedural and
serial-killer thriller in which Denzel Washington's paralyzed forensics expert
recruits Jolie's cop to do his
... moreliteral and figurative legwork while on the trail
of a macabre multiple murderer. The direction by Phillip Noyce is no great shakes, and the adaptation
of Jeffery Deaver's best-selling novel brings much too much of Deaver's ornate
excess to life. And yet, as Jolie and Washington go through their scenes, their
work together builds a quiet, unmistakable charge that can't be denied. Jolie
brings a raw, vulnerable power as her cop sifts ghastly murder scenes for clues,
and a moment in which she caresses Washington's finger (the one part of his body
below the neck with any feeling) has more sensual power to it than most
actresses' sex scenes. (Universal/Courtesy Everett
Collection)Close
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