This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
And Sat Down Beside Her
Plot Overview
Aviator Charles Lindbergh
made headlines in 1927 by being the first to fly solo nonstop
across the Atlantic. He was an American hero. When his infant son
was kidnapped in 1932, it was the crime of the century. The last words
of convicted kidnapper Richard Bruno Hauptman were that his execution
didn't close the book. He denied being the culprit but was
blamed—some think framed—on circumstantial evidence.
The crime has stuck in America's craw.
Obsessed with notoriety and
wanting to emulate the former villainy, Jonathan Mercusio (Michael
Wincott,) aka Gary Soneji, posing
as a teacher has infiltrated Cathedral an exclusive school for
offspring of diplomats, ambassadors, and high ranking officials. He
makes off with twelve-year-old Megan Rose (Mika Boorem) daughter of
US Senator Hank Rose (Michael
Moriarty.) Special Agent Jezzie Flannigan (Monica Potter) of the
Secret Service, charged with protecting her, admits that their security's
“foolproof way to keep the kooks out” was “looking
in the wrong direction.” She says of Soneji, “Everything
about him was right. He was always patient, he was pleasant, he had
a sense of humor. I mean, he was the perfect teacher.” It's
as author Dick Francis has put it: “Shakespeare was bang
up to date. One can smile and smile and be a villain” (195).
The lead in the investigation is FBI Special
Agent-In-Charge Ollie McArthur (Dylan Baker) who declares there should be
no childish turf wars. Good thing. Other jurisdictions involved will
come to include Secret Service, Russian security, police departments
of DC, Virginia, Maryland
& Delaware, the US Coast
Guard, and forensic psychologist Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) of unstated
province. He doesn't rate a second glance as a nigger running down
the street, and as a black man at night parked on embassy row only
a polite query from the passing cops. They all coordinate seamlessly
and we might not even notice the lack of rancor save that the lead made a
point of mentioning it. It's as in that adage, if a tree falls in the
forest and there's no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?
If political rancor has disappeared,
conflicts women have with men remain the same. Alex Cross's wife Vickie
(Anna Maria Horsford) tells him to get over the funk he's been in
since he lost his partner. Agent Jezzie “about to start an
argument” chides him for sounding like he's admiring their quarry.
The Senator's wife gives Agent McArthur what for. Jezzie tells Control
Agent Ben Devine (Billy Burke) to “shut up.” The hapless
Good Samaritan, Floyd the fisherman (Scott Heindl), comes to
grief trying to rescue the floundering girl. A new canard suggests
itself: If a man speaks in a forest and there's no woman there to
hear him, is he still wrong?
Ideology
The police action lends itself to comparison with one
of Kenny Rogers's songs concerning a chance encounter with “The
Gambler” on a train bound for nowhere. In return for a smoke
& a drink, he offered his fellow passenger the advice that “the
secret to surviving is knowing what to throw away and knowing what
to keep.” The refrain of the song goes:
You've got to know when to hold 'em, Know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away, Know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
This wisdom of the gambling man's repartee is old as the hills and was passed on by a raconteur, Agur in Proverbs 30:1, whose four metaphors offered the same life advice as did Rogers's Gambler. That we find in, (Prov. 30:29-31) “There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.”
We have Agur's “lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any,” and we have Rogers's “know[ing] when to hold 'em.” In our movie the shrink eventually gets the kidnapper lined up in his sights but the guy's confident the cop won't shoot because then he won't know where to find the girl. I wouldn't be so sure about that. Sometimes the lion will pounce for its own reasons.
We have Agur's “king, against whom there is no rising up,” and we have Rogers's “Know[ing] when to fold 'em.” A king who knows when to give in to his subjects doesn't experience any uprising. When Megan is recaptured, she promises not to try to escape again. What else can she do?
We have Agur's “he goat also”
and we have Rogers's “Know[ing] when to walk away.” After
Detective Cross lost his partner, he needs to walk away from it and
get on with his life.
We have Agur's “greyhound” and Rogers's “Know[ing] when to run.” There are lots of occasions to run in this movie. There's twice running after the kidnapper—who's in a motor vehicle. There's “a running game” Cross is put through to shake off any tail. There's the desperate crawl Megan must perform both in the water and in the rafters.
The gambler gave the advice:
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
At the end Megan will want to be reunited with her mom, but whom can she trust to take her to her?
Production Values
“” (2001) was directed by Lee Tamahori. It was written
by Marc Moss, adapted from the novel, Along
Came a Spider by James Patterson. It stars Morgan Freeman,
Michael Wincott and Monica Potter. Patterson fit his role like a hand
in a glove. The child actors were good. Everyone else did okay.
MPA rated it R for violence and language. The opening and continuing mood music enhanced the tension. The Alex Cross character is similar to James Bond: larger than life. In the books Bond is a tragic figure, in the movies a romantic. Cross in the literature is but an advisor, in the movie he's a bona-fide detective, though of what police force we're not told. For both, the actors get switched out, but their character lives on. Forget ongoing continuity, it's the aura that matters. Much of this film was shot in Canada. Runtime is 1¾ hours.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
The namesake had been introduced in an earlier movie “Alex Cross.” There after the loss of a spouse, Alex found comfort in Christian hymns. Here after the loss of a partner, he's taken to model ship building. The Christian flavor has disappeared.
Personally, I preferred him in the novels but can appreciate the movies. His solving of crimes is quite cerebral. For some the children may seem too big for their britches and the Negroes too uppity, but it's only a movie. He's more down to earth than Agatha Christie and displays action at times. You have to make up your own mind.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Well done action flick. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Francis, Dick. Second Wind. Copyright © 1999 by Dick Francis. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1999. Print.
Rogers, Kenny. Songwriter Don Schlitz. “The Gambler.” Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Pub. LLC. WEB.
bibles.n7nz.org