Along Came a Spider (2001)

Director: Lee Tamahori

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Michael Wincott, Dylan Baker, Mike Boorem, Anton Yelchin ,Michael Moriarty, Penelope Ann Miller

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The game is far from over.

Plot: A congressman's daughter under Secret Service protection is kidnapped from a private school by an insider who calls Det. Alex Cross, sucking him into the case even though he's recovering from the loss of his partner.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nope.

NICE opening credits with the letters descending like a spider hanging from a web. I liked Jerry Goldsmith's score, too, which only reminds me that he's sorely missed. I saw the previous film Morgan Freeman did with the character a few years ago (KISS THE GIRLS (1997)) and I remember digging it OK. I'll have to revisit it because I think it was better than this one. I really dig Freeman in this kind of role. He owned it in SEVEN (1995). I just wish we had more of seeing his mind at work.


This flick was going strong until the last half hour when "the surprises" started to happen. I'm not going to spoil anything. When a certain someone is removed from the picture, that's when it becomes a standard thriller. It almost felt like someone else took over filming it at that point. I don't have a beef with choices in the story direction and reveals but just in how it was handled on the screen. Then there's the thing with the antique shotgun and how Cross just happened to either have the shells in his pocket (that's what it looked like) or the shells were right next to the gun which doesn't make any sense considering the story behind the gun. It's little shit like that that can muddy up an otherwise good story.


Michael Wincott is fantastic as the antagonist. It was neat seeing Yelchin (Chekov from the latest STAR TREK (2009) flick) in an early role, though. And I really liked Monica Potter's performance. Besides, she's a spitting image of a ballroom dance instructor I was, uh, "seeing" around the time this movie came out. Mmmmmm. She had a small chance (and lots of practicing) to qualify to have my babies. I guess I just wanted more from this decent thriller. With such a strong first two thirds I didn't have any reason to believe that it would end with a fizzle.