Kiss the Girls (1997) * * *

 

Directed by:  Gary Fleder

Starring:  Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, Brian Cox, Jay O. Sanders, Tony Goldwyn, Alex McArthur, Bill Nunn, Gina Ravera, Jeremy Piven 

Kiss the Girls is the first movie featuring Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, the FBI profiler/author whose meticulous attention to detail makes him a nightmare for criminals.  The case, however, in Kiss the Girls is also personal for him.  Alex's niece Naomi (Ravera) is a missing college student presumed kidnapped by a mask-wearing man who calls himself Casanova.  Casanova keeps numerous women imprisoned in a hidden dungeon somewhere in a dense North Carolina forest; hooking them on drugs, raping them, and killing them if attempt to escape.   Three women were found tied to trees and brutally murdered.  

Cross is aided by Durham detective Nick Ruskin (Elwes).  Soon Dr. Kate McTiernan (Judd) is kidnapped from her home by Casanova, but has the wherewithal and physical prowess to escape.   Kate is a strong, determined woman who refuses to play victim and assists Alex and the police in locating Casanova and the women still held captive.   Their travels take them to California, where plastic surgeon William Rudolph (Goldwyn) is a suspect.  Is he Casanova or an accomplice?  The findings lead Alex and Kate further down a sinister path.  

Freeman is, of course, a perfect Alex Cross.  He is the type of actor who could tell me 2 + 2 = 6 and I would believe him.  Judd is up to the task of becoming Freeman's de facto sidekick.   They would appear together again later in High Crimes to similar effect.  Kiss the Girls maintains an eerie mood with plenty of solid police procedural scenes adding to the suspense.   I have a quibble with the finale, in which Casanova's identity is revealed.  I don't know if the conclusion is the same as in James Patterson's novel, but it doesn't add up.  The Casanova who hides behind a mask and speaks softly to his victims has a much deeper voice and no trace of a Southern accent.  Did Casanova use a mechanism to disguise his voice?  And how did Casanova juggle his criminal activities with his day job?  Many movies employ this swerve and it leads to more questions than answers.