Kiss the Girls, based on the best selling novel by James Patterson, is fast moving and suspenseful. Like all movies based on long complex books, the film version of Kiss the Girls lacks the depth of the novel. The film glosses over the psychological aspects that make Patterson's novels so intriguing, and instead focuses on providing non-stop suspense and excitement.
When the niece of police detective Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) goes missing, he travels to North Carolina in an effort to find her. Once there, he discovers that she is just the latest victim of a kidnapper-killer who calls himself Casanova. Casanova collects beautiful, intelligent women by ambushing and kidnapping them. Once he has them, he secures them in his lair and terrorises them into submission. They then form his secret harem. When he chooses Kate Mctiernan (Ashley Judd) as his latest acquisition, his reign of terror is threatened. Unwilling to submit, Kate escapes from his hidden lair and joins Cross in the race to find Casanova before he kills the women.
As Cross, Morgan Freeman is a pleasure to watch. Freeman portrays a complex character and displays a range of emotion that goes well beyond the screenplay. The Alex Cross Freeman brings to the screen is true to the popular character that inhabits Patterson's books. Likewise Ashley Judd, gives Mctiernan's character depth and subtlety. The fast moving, exciting plot is peopled with interesting characters that are well portrayed by the supporting cast.
In the film, Cross performs psychological profiling and examines the killer's motivation only just enough to keep viewers interested. The rest of the time is spent chasing Casanova coast to coast in a battle of wits. Cross's and Mctienrnan's race to find Casanova before he kills or kidnaps again is enough to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. All the same, as enjoyable as Kiss the Girls is as a thriller, you can't help but wonder how it might have turned out if screenwriter David Klass and director Gary Fleder had given more emphasis to the psychological aspects that are so much stronger in Patterson's book.
