Watched on Netflix

James Patterson has reached a huge audience with his novels: the US author, who specializes in thrillers, has sold more than 400 million books, earning more than anyone else for three years in a row. Strangely enough, however, he has only played a minor role in the film industry. While John Grisham and Dan Brown, for example, also enjoyed huge success in Hollywood, Patterson's various adaptations were more of a side event. Hardly anyone was interested in "The Postcard Killings", the most recent film, for example. The closest thing to making an impression was "Kiss The Girls" in 1997. Although the reviews at the time were modest, it still grossed 60 million US dollars, three times the budget.

The scenario is typical genre material. A criminal is up to mischief, the protagonist Dr. Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) has to stop him - it doesn't get much more classic than that. The fact that it's not a serial killer, but someone who "only" wants to kidnap women and make them submissive, is a little out of the ordinary. But there are more than enough examples in this respect too. The relationship to one of the kidnap victims adds a personal component to "Kiss The Girls". But it didn't need it. The movie only uses this as an excuse for Cross to take on the case in the first place. Much more relevant to the story is the doctor McTiernan (Ashley Judd), who trains as a kickboxer in her spare time. This may seem contrived, but at least it ensures that the protagonist is actually active in a movie like this for once, instead of just having to be rescued.

But you can't have particularly high expectations when it comes to content anyway. There are no surprises worth mentioning in the course of the story. Patterson does include a twist to throw the audience off the scent. Nevertheless, it all remains fairly predictable and the plot is nothing more than a ticking off of clichés. You shouldn't expect anything from the characters anyway, neither the protagonist nor the antagonist have any distinctive traits that will stick in your memory. Credibility is not high on the list of priorities anyway, "Kiss The Girls" doesn't take it all that seriously and trusts that you will feel the same way.

The movie is not actually bad. Director Gary Fleder at least manages to keep you somewhat occupied while watching. There are also moments of suspense from time to time, for example during escape attempts, further kidnappings or other action scenes. The acting is also good in this thriller with a prominent cast. For some, that was enough, which is why there was a quasi-sequel four years later with "Along Came A Spider" and an attempt at a reboot in 2012 with Alex Cross. Nevertheless, you don't need to have seen the result. There are much more gripping genre representatives about the hunt for unscrupulous, disturbed criminals.