You can't always do the same things in the movie as there are really only a finite number of stories out there that can be told and variations on a theme are needed to make a story work. So sometimes risks are taken when telling a story, they can work with stunning results or they can fall flat on their faces. Out today on DVD and Blu-Ray is a film that sadly falls in the latter.
Starring Tyler Perry and Matthew Fox
Directed by Rob Cohen
“Alex Cross” follows the young homicide detective/psychologist (Perry), from the worldwide best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he meets his match in a contract/serial killer (Fox). The two face off in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse through the streets of Detroit, but when the mission gets personal and Cross’ family and friends are at risk, he is pushed to the edge of his moral and psychological limits in order to save the ones he cares about.
Where does one begin with this film? I could come up with plenty of hurtful and negative descriptions for this film but they really wouldn’t be doing justice to how terrible this film actually was. The dialogue and setups were fairly laughable and the entire narrative felt as if they were stretching a 44 minute network drama into 101 minutes of screen time. At their best the characters felt cartoonish and forced into being what characters in a crime drama should be, some of whom simply have characters that go nowhere as quickly as humanly possible, along with plot points that tend to vanish just as quickly as they appear. Rob Cohen is certainly no stranger to shooting action films, and in the right context even the most nonsensical of action sequences has their place; however this film was trying to be silly and serious all at the same time making for an emotional confusion that could only be described as laughable, steaming pile of you know what.
While I admire and applaud all the success of one Tyler Perry and even commend him for taking somewhat of a risk with this role, it just doesn’t work at all. From anything to attempting to deliver some psychological dialogue, interrogate a witness or simply try and be a bad-ass cop; it always feels forced and unnatural. For Tyler Perry this may actually be the first genuine misstep the man has taken during his Hollywood career because the audience will never buy him as an action lead, not for a single solitary minute and everything he does falls flat. Matthew Fox as the killer is so actively chewing the scenery that it is actually over the top and laughable. Edward Burns & Rachel Nichols as his partners are seemingly there as recognizable furniture and John C McGinley as their crusty police chief boss felt like he had wandered on to the wrong film set. None of the actors really had anything genuine to sink their teeth into and it showed as they were all simply there and never characters that could be connected to in anyway shape or form.
The picture and sound quality on this release were good enough and the special features include deleted scenes, a behind the scenes featurette and feature length audio commentary by director Rob Cohen.
It’s rare when you see everything and I mean everything go wrong in a movie, but “Alex Cross” was it. While most of the performers in this film will get a pass on this one since it is impossible to get it right every time out of the gate, that doesn’t mean you should take your hard earned dollars anywhere this mess of a film.
1 out of 5 stars.
"Alex Cross" is now available for rent on DVD & Blu-Ray at video stores all across Canada. It's also available for purchase from all major retailers like amazon.ca, iTunes and HMV.
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