Kiss the Girls (film)
Encyclopedia
Kiss the Girls is a 1997 American thriller film directed by Gary Fleder
and starring Morgan Freeman
, Cary Elwes
and Ashley Judd
. The screenplay
by David Klass
is based on the best-selling novel Kiss the Girls
by James Patterson
.
detective
and forensic psychologist
Alex Cross
(Morgan Freeman
) heads to Durham, North Carolina
when his niece Naomi (Gina Ravera
), a college student, is reported missing. He learns from the local police, including Nick Ruskin (Cary Elwes
), that Naomi is the latest in a series of young women who have vanished. Soon after his arrival, one of the missing women is found dead, bound to a tree in a desolate forest, and shortly after that, intern Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd
) is kidnapped from her home.
When she awakens from a drugged state, Kate discovers that she is being held captive by a masked man calling himself Casanova, and she is one of several prisoners trapped in his lair. She manages to escape and is severely injured when she jumps from a cliff and into a river to escape from his clutches. After she recuperates, she joins forces with Cross to track down her sadomasochist captor, who Cross concludes is a collector, not a killer, unless his victims fail to follow his rules. This means there is time to rescue the other imprisoned women, just as long as they remain subservient.
Clues lead them to Los Angeles
, where a series of gruesome kidnappings and murders have been credited to a man known as the Gentleman Caller. Cross deduces he is working in collusion with rather than imitating his East Coast
counterpart, but his efforts to capture and question him are foiled and the man escapes. Upon returning to North Carolina
, he eventually discovers the underground hideaway used by, as well as the true identity of, the man who calls himself Casanova.
, in nearby County parks, and outside a Chapel Hill, North Carolina
residence. The police station was constructed in a downtown Durham
warehouse. The majority of filming occurred in the Los Angeles area, with locations including the Disney Ranch, The Athenaeum at the California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena, California
, a house in the Adams historic district of Los Angeles, and on the campus of the University of Southern California
in University Park
. Designed by American production designer Nelson Coates, the majority of the sets, including the tunnels and underground chambers, were constructed in sound stages on the Paramount Studios lot.
The film premiered at the Deauville Film Festival in September 1997 before opening on 2,271 screens in the US the following month. It earned $13,215,167 in its opening weekend and a total of $60,527,873 in the US, ranking #30 in domestic revenue for the year.
.
Stephen Holden of the New York Times said the film "is cut from the same cloth as The Silence of the Lambs, but the piece of material it uses has the uneven shape and dangling threads of a discarded remnant.... [It] begins promisingly, then loses its direction as the demand for accelerated action overtakes narrative logic." Holden writes of Morgan Freeman that he "projects a kindness, patience and canny intelligence that cut against the movie's fast pace and pumped-up shock effects. His performance is so measured it makes you want to believe in the movie much more than its gimmicky jerry-rigged plot ever permits."
In the Chicago Sun-Times
, Roger Ebert
said, "David Klass, the screenwriter, gives Freeman and Judd more specific dialogue than is usual in thrillers; they sound as if they might actually be talking with each other and not simply advancing plot points.... [They] are so good, you almost wish they'd decided not to make a thriller at all - had simply found a way to construct a drama exploring their personalities."
Rita Kempley of the Washington Post called the film "a tense, scary, perversely creepy thriller" and added, "David Klass ... blessedly deletes the graphic descriptions of torture and rape included in the novel. Unfortunately, he also neglects to include any explanation of Casanova's behavior. Otherwise Kiss the Girls does what it's supposed to do. A solid second film from director Gary Fleder, it's sure to set pulses racing and spines tingling." In the same newspaper, Desson Howe felt "The movie ... operates on the crime-movie equivalent of automatic pilot. It takes off, flies and lands without much creative intervention."
In the San Francisco Chronicle
, Peter Stack thought "the story ... goes on too long. It has too many confusing plot twists and keeps losing energy. Blame it on Hollywood excess, or director Gary Fleder's uncertain hand. A cut of 15 minutes would have helped." He was more impressed by the film's stars, calling Morgan Freeman "compelling" and "a hero of extraordinary power that comes almost entirely from his unemotional, calculating calm," and stating that Ashley Judd "gives the sometimes plodding drama a dose of intense vitality. This young actress is getting awfully good at turning potentially gelatinous characters into substantive people who spark viewer interest."
at the 1998 Satellite Awards.
.
Gary Fleder
Gary Fleder is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His most recently completed film, The Express, is based on the true story of football player Ernie Davis, and was released by Universal Pictures in October 2008....
and starring Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
, Cary Elwes
Cary Elwes
Ivan Simon Cary Elwes , known professionally as Cary Elwes, is an English actor. The son of Dominick Elwes and Tessa Georgina Kennedy, Elwes acted in off-Broadway plays during college and moved to the United States in the early 1980s. He is known for his role as Westley in the cult classic The...
and Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd is an American television and film actress, who has played lead roles in films including Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes...
. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by David Klass
David Klass
David Klass is an American screenwriter and novelist. He has written more than 40 screenplays for Hollywood studios and published 14 young adult novels...
is based on the best-selling novel Kiss the Girls
Kiss the Girls
Kiss the Girls is a psychological thriller novel by American writer James Patterson, the second to star his recurrent character Alex Cross, an African-American psychologist.-Plot summary:...
by James Patterson
James Patterson
James B. Patterson is an American author of thriller novels, largely known for his series about American psychologist Alex Cross...
.
Plot
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
and forensic psychologist
Forensic psychology
Forensic psychology is the intersection between psychology and the criminal justice system. It involves understanding criminal law in the relevant jurisdictions in order to be able to interact appropriately with judges, attorneys and other legal professionals...
Alex Cross
Alex Cross
Alex Cross is a fictional character, the protagonist in a series of books by novelist James Patterson.-Character overview:Cross is a Black detective and psychologist living and working in the Southeast quadrant of Washington, D.C...
(Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
) heads to Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
when his niece Naomi (Gina Ravera
Gina Ravera
Gina Ravera is an American actress from San Francisco, California. She is best known for the role of Irene Daniels during the first four seasons TNT's Emmy Award winning crime drama The Closer, and was the only regular cast member to leave the series during its run...
), a college student, is reported missing. He learns from the local police, including Nick Ruskin (Cary Elwes
Cary Elwes
Ivan Simon Cary Elwes , known professionally as Cary Elwes, is an English actor. The son of Dominick Elwes and Tessa Georgina Kennedy, Elwes acted in off-Broadway plays during college and moved to the United States in the early 1980s. He is known for his role as Westley in the cult classic The...
), that Naomi is the latest in a series of young women who have vanished. Soon after his arrival, one of the missing women is found dead, bound to a tree in a desolate forest, and shortly after that, intern Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd is an American television and film actress, who has played lead roles in films including Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes...
) is kidnapped from her home.
When she awakens from a drugged state, Kate discovers that she is being held captive by a masked man calling himself Casanova, and she is one of several prisoners trapped in his lair. She manages to escape and is severely injured when she jumps from a cliff and into a river to escape from his clutches. After she recuperates, she joins forces with Cross to track down her sadomasochist captor, who Cross concludes is a collector, not a killer, unless his victims fail to follow his rules. This means there is time to rescue the other imprisoned women, just as long as they remain subservient.
Clues lead them to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where a series of gruesome kidnappings and murders have been credited to a man known as the Gentleman Caller. Cross deduces he is working in collusion with rather than imitating his East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
counterpart, but his efforts to capture and question him are foiled and the man escapes. Upon returning to North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, he eventually discovers the underground hideaway used by, as well as the true identity of, the man who calls himself Casanova.
Production
The film shot two weeks on location in North Carolina on the streets of DurhamDurham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, in nearby County parks, and outside a Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
residence. The police station was constructed in a downtown Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
warehouse. The majority of filming occurred in the Los Angeles area, with locations including the Disney Ranch, The Athenaeum at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, a house in the Adams historic district of Los Angeles, and on the campus of the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in University Park
University Park, Los Angeles, California
University Park is a historic neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, a few miles southwest of Downtown Los Angeles. University Park refers to the University of Southern California as well as the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the University, in particular Exposition Park and North...
. Designed by American production designer Nelson Coates, the majority of the sets, including the tunnels and underground chambers, were constructed in sound stages on the Paramount Studios lot.
The film premiered at the Deauville Film Festival in September 1997 before opening on 2,271 screens in the US the following month. It earned $13,215,167 in its opening weekend and a total of $60,527,873 in the US, ranking #30 in domestic revenue for the year.
Cast
- Morgan FreemanMorgan FreemanMorgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
..... Alex Cross - Ashley JuddAshley JuddAshley Judd is an American television and film actress, who has played lead roles in films including Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes...
..... Dr. Kate McTiernan - Cary ElwesCary ElwesIvan Simon Cary Elwes , known professionally as Cary Elwes, is an English actor. The son of Dominick Elwes and Tessa Georgina Kennedy, Elwes acted in off-Broadway plays during college and moved to the United States in the early 1980s. He is known for his role as Westley in the cult classic The...
..... Det. Nick Ruskin / Casanova - Alex McArthur ..... Det. Davey Sikes
- Bill NunnBill Nunn-Early life:Nunn was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of William G. Nunn, Jr., a well-known journalist and editor at the Pittsburgh Courier, as well as an NFL scout. Nunn's paternal grandfather was the first African American football player at George Westinghouse High School.Nunn was a...
..... Det. John Sampson - Jeremy PivenJeremy PivenJeremy Samuel Piven is an American film producer and actor best known for his role as Ari Gold in the television series Entourage for which he has won three Emmy Awards as well as several other nominations for Best Supporting Actor....
..... Det. Henry Castillo - Brian Cox ..... Durham P.D. Chief Hatfield
- Jay O. SandersJay O. SandersJay Olcutt Sanders is an American character actor.Sanders was born in Austin, Texas, to Phyllis Rae and James Olcutt Sanders. He is noted for playing Mob lawyer character Steven Kordo in the 1986–88 NBC detective series Crime Story...
..... FBI Agent Kyle Craig - Tony GoldwynTony GoldwynAnthony Howard "Tony" Goldwyn is an American actor and director. He portrayed the villain Carl Bruner in Ghost, Colonel Bagley in The Last Samurai, and the voice of the title character of the Disney animated Tarzan.-Early life:...
..... Dr. William Rudolph / Gentleman Caller - William Converse-Roberts ..... Dr. Wick Sachs
- Roma MaffiaRoma MaffiaRoma Maffia is an American actress.Maffia was born in Manhattan, New York of West Indian, English and German descent; her Italian surname derives from her stepfather....
..... Dr. Ruocco - Richard T. JonesRichard T. JonesRichard Timothy Jones is an American film and television actor.Jones was born in Kobe, Japan and raised in Carson, California. He is the son of Lorene, a computer analyst, and Clarence Jones, a professional baseball player and the hitting instructor for the Cleveland Indians. He also has an older...
..... Seth Samuel - Gina RaveraGina RaveraGina Ravera is an American actress from San Francisco, California. She is best known for the role of Irene Daniels during the first four seasons TNT's Emmy Award winning crime drama The Closer, and was the only regular cast member to leave the series during its run...
..... Naomi Cross - Tatyana AliTatyana AliTatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her childhood role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...
..... Janelle Cross - Anna Maria HorsfordAnna Maria HorsfordAnna Maria Horsford is an American television and film actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Thelma Frye on the sitcom Amen, her role as Craig Jones' mother, Betty Jones, in the 1995 comedy, Friday and the 2002 comedy Friday After Next and as security guard Dee on The Wayans Bros.,...
..... Mrs. Vicki Cross - Helen MartinHelen MartinHelen Dorothy Martin was an American actress of stage and television who is perhaps most well known for her role in the sitcom 227 as Marla Gibbs' neighbor Pearl.-Early life and education:...
..... Nana Cross
Critical reception
The film received negative reviews and has a "rotten" rating of 30% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Stephen Holden of the New York Times said the film "is cut from the same cloth as The Silence of the Lambs, but the piece of material it uses has the uneven shape and dangling threads of a discarded remnant.... [It] begins promisingly, then loses its direction as the demand for accelerated action overtakes narrative logic." Holden writes of Morgan Freeman that he "projects a kindness, patience and canny intelligence that cut against the movie's fast pace and pumped-up shock effects. His performance is so measured it makes you want to believe in the movie much more than its gimmicky jerry-rigged plot ever permits."
In the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
said, "David Klass, the screenwriter, gives Freeman and Judd more specific dialogue than is usual in thrillers; they sound as if they might actually be talking with each other and not simply advancing plot points.... [They] are so good, you almost wish they'd decided not to make a thriller at all - had simply found a way to construct a drama exploring their personalities."
Rita Kempley of the Washington Post called the film "a tense, scary, perversely creepy thriller" and added, "David Klass ... blessedly deletes the graphic descriptions of torture and rape included in the novel. Unfortunately, he also neglects to include any explanation of Casanova's behavior. Otherwise Kiss the Girls does what it's supposed to do. A solid second film from director Gary Fleder, it's sure to set pulses racing and spines tingling." In the same newspaper, Desson Howe felt "The movie ... operates on the crime-movie equivalent of automatic pilot. It takes off, flies and lands without much creative intervention."
In the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Peter Stack thought "the story ... goes on too long. It has too many confusing plot twists and keeps losing energy. Blame it on Hollywood excess, or director Gary Fleder's uncertain hand. A cut of 15 minutes would have helped." He was more impressed by the film's stars, calling Morgan Freeman "compelling" and "a hero of extraordinary power that comes almost entirely from his unemotional, calculating calm," and stating that Ashley Judd "gives the sometimes plodding drama a dose of intense vitality. This young actress is getting awfully good at turning potentially gelatinous characters into substantive people who spark viewer interest."
Awards and nominations
Judd was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture DramaSatellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
The Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture is one of the Satellite Awards presented annually by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :Best Supporting Actress – Drama*1996: Courtney Love - The People vs...
at the 1998 Satellite Awards.
Controversy in central Virginia
The film was not shown in some theaters in central Virginia at the time of release due to the unsolved murders of three teenage girls in the area. This decision was out of respect for the families and surrounding communities. The murders were eventually solved, being attributed to Richard EvonitzRichard Evonitz
Richard Marc Evonitz was a serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist responsible for the deaths of three girls in Spotsylvania County, Virginia and the abduction and rape of a 15-year-old girl in Richland County, South Carolina...
.