A thriller that failed critics but thrived at the box office with Morgan Freeman
In short: The 2001 thriller Along Came a Spider, featuring Morgan Freeman as detective Alex Cross, was a commercial success despite being panned by critics. While the film struggled with implausible plot holes and excessive exposition, Freeman's performance remained a standout, earning him an NAACP Image Award nomination for his portrayal.
Directed by Lee Tamahori, the 2001 film serves as the second installment in the Alex Cross series, following 1997's Kiss the Girls. Adapted from James Patterson's 1993 novel, the story follows Cross as he emerges from retirement to investigate the kidnapping of a senator's daughter by a teacher named Gary Soneji. Soneji, who models his crimes after the infamous 1932 Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. abduction, becomes the target of a complex investigation involving the Secret Service and the FBI.
The narrative takes a turn when Cross discovers that the kidnapping is part of a larger, more sinister scheme. While Soneji attempts to extort millions in diamonds, Cross eventually realizes that the Secret Service agent Jezzie Flannigan has been manipulating the situation for her own gain. The film culminates in a confrontation at a farmhouse where Cross must stop Flannigan, who has already murdered her accomplice, to save the kidnapped girl.
Critical reception was largely negative, with Rotten Tomatoes granting it a 32% approval rating and Metacritic assigning a score of 42 out of 100. Critics like Elvis Mitchell and Roger Ebert described the film as overplotted and nonsensical, though both praised Freeman's gravitas and intelligence. Despite these reviews, the film grossed $105.2 million worldwide against a $60 million budget. It remains the final entry in the Freeman-led series, as the character was later rebooted in 2012 with Tyler Perry in the lead role.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Along Came a Spider (film)
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