A quadriplegic ex-homicide detective and his partner try to track down a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City.A quadriplegic ex-homicide detective and his partner try to track down a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City.A quadriplegic ex-homicide detective and his partner try to track down a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City.
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations
Michael McGlone
- Detective Kenny Solomon
- (as Mike McGlone)
Luis Guzmán
- Eddie Ortiz
- (as Luis Guzman)
James Bulleit
- Train Engineer
- (as Jim Bulleit)
Daniel Brochu
- N.Y.U. Student
- (as Daniel C. Brochu)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPhillip Noyce is not a big fan of his work on this film. In the wake of Se7en (1995), every studio wanted a copycat serial killer film on their books. He felt that he was just part of the assembly line by signing on to this film, knowing full well that he would never be able to match David Fincher's achievement.
- Goofs(at around 1h 35 mins) Amelia spends several minutes in the waters of New York Harbor, then heads for the subway station in perfectly dry clothes.
- Crazy creditsIn the international prints, the Columbia Pictures closing print logo is not shown at the end.
- Alternate versionsAn alternative ending was shot where Thelma survives and can be seen at the Christmas party. This was not used because it was deemed too unbelievable.
Featured review
Dark and tense, but ultimately lazy story telling
When NYPD cop Amelia Donaghy uncovers a mutilated corpse she shows a natural eye for detail and preserving crime scenes. When the killer turns out to be a serial killer leaving clues to his next crime, NYPD turn to the paralysed ex-forensics cop, Rhyme to help them piece together the clues. With Rhymes bedridden, Donaghy becomes his eyes, ears and legs as she walks the scenes under his guidance to uncover the trail.
This is a star vehicle - two Oscar winners and some good supporting actors (Luis Guzman, Michael Rooker to name two). However the plot is below the Washington and Jolie. It is the old "killer taunting cops to catch him" chestnut. It is slightly spiced up by the use of forensics etc and watching Washington putting together the logical clues is quite fun - mainly because you get the feeling that you're right there with him and that it all makes sense. However most of it doesn't makes sense, a lot of the forensics is bull and relies of coincidence or Washington dragging facts from the back of his head. This is a shame because it feels like the film is just being lazy at times and is cheating us out of logic. This laziness feeds right through to the ending - if you thought that the Scream films were lazy and stupid wait till you see the stupid ending to this! Up till this the film does have plenty of horrible scenes and lots of tense bits with Jolie walking round in the dark with the killer potentially just round the corner.
Jolie is good and deals with her character well - despite the fact that a beat cop would never just be able to become a crime scene officer on the whim of an ex-cop. Washington deals well with his character being paralysed for the whole film but does get a bit silly at the end where he fights the killer with just his head! Support is fine - but Guzman is not as good as he usually is.
Overall this is a B movie that got an A movie budget. The film is dark and tense but ultimately a bit lazy and blows it totally with a stupid lazy conclusion.
This is a star vehicle - two Oscar winners and some good supporting actors (Luis Guzman, Michael Rooker to name two). However the plot is below the Washington and Jolie. It is the old "killer taunting cops to catch him" chestnut. It is slightly spiced up by the use of forensics etc and watching Washington putting together the logical clues is quite fun - mainly because you get the feeling that you're right there with him and that it all makes sense. However most of it doesn't makes sense, a lot of the forensics is bull and relies of coincidence or Washington dragging facts from the back of his head. This is a shame because it feels like the film is just being lazy at times and is cheating us out of logic. This laziness feeds right through to the ending - if you thought that the Scream films were lazy and stupid wait till you see the stupid ending to this! Up till this the film does have plenty of horrible scenes and lots of tense bits with Jolie walking round in the dark with the killer potentially just round the corner.
Jolie is good and deals with her character well - despite the fact that a beat cop would never just be able to become a crime scene officer on the whim of an ex-cop. Washington deals well with his character being paralysed for the whole film but does get a bit silly at the end where he fights the killer with just his head! Support is fine - but Guzman is not as good as he usually is.
Overall this is a B movie that got an A movie budget. The film is dark and tense but ultimately a bit lazy and blows it totally with a stupid lazy conclusion.
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- bob the moo
- Jan 11, 2002
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $73,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $66,518,655
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $16,712,020
- Nov 7, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $151,493,655
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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