An extremely overlooked film in my opinion. Yes, Se7en and Silence of the Lambs absolutely annihilate this, but for a 90's detective case it's rather compelling. This is what happens when you cast two great leads, a decent film is produced. Much like any other serial killer story, our main characters must find out who the homicidal maniac is before they kill again. The difference is, the forensic expert is paralysed and so he trains an unwilling rookie to solve the case. Murder case aside, it's all about passing on knowledge and skills to another peer in order to complete a task. Rhyme is unable to do anything, so he envisages his own image within Amelia. Turning her from a rookie cop to the perfect forensic investigator. Highlighting the importance of communication and trust. Fortunately Washington and Jolie have decent on screen chemistry. Both their talents put together to create an explosion of raw acting. Jolie plays a tough yet vulnerable officer, Washington juxtaposes this with an experienced performance. The two amalgamate to create the perfect crime solving entity. The crime scenes themselves were visceral and not easy watches, particularly being scolded to death by oncoming steam. I loved the gritty realism that is sustained throughout. It evokes a sense of mystery, we are attempting to solve the case with the characters. Supporting cast were good, nothing outstanding. Although I wanted more Queen Latifah! The killer's reveal was a letdown unfortunately. The final twenty minutes were rushed to what was an intelligently paced thriller. And thank God we don't have those horrible slow motion frames that were all so apparent in the 90s...just hideously generic. The Bone Collector is a damn good watch, and for any Washington or Jolie fans you are in for a great time.

This serial killer thriller-chiller was severely underrated by critics on release – and I'm not sure why. The film is impossible to dislike and even if not magnificent or original it has all the right aspects. The score is good, the dark and moody photography excellent, even the script gives light to some interesting characterisations once in a while which is a bit of a surprise. The usual elements torn from the two most popular "serial killer" films of the 1990s are all present and correct but the film does have some interest in the shape of its central pairing, Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.

Washington takes the role of Lincoln Rhyme, a top cop who gets his back broken and spends the rest of his days as a quadriplegic lying in a bed in his huge, spooky house. Although bedridden he's still a force to be reckoned with and Washington is typically excellent in the role, especially in the scenes where he deciphers puzzling clues and puts two and two together like a modern day Holmes. The sexy Angelina Jolie, on the other hand, is a young, tough female police officer who initially spars with Washington before growing to understand (and love?) him as their relationship deepens and they grow respect for each other.

Fair enough, the plot of the serial killer is familiar and the deaths are all as unpleasant as they should be. Victims are eaten alive by rats and boiled to death by steam pipes. The film goes for a dark, unwholesome SEVEN vibe here which pays off dividends. These scenes come as no surprise but are pleasingly atmospheric and spooky, especially the hunting through dark underground tunnels. One thing I will say is that the identity of the killer is far too easy to guess; I had narrowed it down to two suspects early on and at the end my suspicions were confirmed. Saying that, the adrenaline-pump of the finale is excellent (if predictable),proving that you should never underestimate the power of the human will.

The supporting cast is pretty efficient for this kind of movie, with nice turns from Queen Latifah (a real surprise, this one),and especially Michael Rooker who excels as the hard-nose police Captain in charge of the case. Plus we get some turns from distinguished character actors like Leland Orser (weird and geeky as always) and Luis Guzman (underused, sadly). Despite the lengthy running time the film fairly flies by, with a good pacing and some excellent suspenseful and taut sequences showing the killer trapping his victims. You could certainly do a lot worse, which I why I recommend this movie to fans of the genre.

Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) is a brilliant police detective and forensics expert who was left a quadriplegic from a job. There's a killer in the city who traps his victims in his taxi cab. Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) is a beat cop who discovers two bodies buried in the train tracks. The investigating detectives (Michael McGlone, Ed O'Neill) enlist the help of Lincoln who in turn enlists the help of Amelia.

This was right before TV show CSI first air. So it had some fascinating CSI bits for the time. But the movie has two problems. It's a minor problem that Denzel is stuck in bed all the time. It restricts his physicality. It also limits the visual dynamics of his scenes.

The bigger problem is the role of Amelia. After all, she is a beat cop without the basic forensics training. The movie is treating this less as a science and more as an inborn ability that an elder can bestow upon a youngling. Also Angelina is so emotional that it's unbelievable anybody would allow her near the evidences. Heck she fires her gun at the rats. What kind of forensics expert is that?

There is no doubt that Denzel and Angelina are big time stars. It's a simple serial killer movie. They're shooting in NYC. It looks good. There is a good movie here. They should have allowed Angelina be a techie, and let Denzel have a wheelchair. That way she's more believable, and he could be mobile with her.