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Bone Collector, TheAlthough it suffers by comparison with Seven, this serial killer thriller is a well-made and underrated film. Washington plays Lincoln Rhyme, an outstanding homicide detective who is semi-retired after an accident left him disabled. When rookie partrolwoman Amelia Donaghy (Jolie) finds a corpse and bizarre clues, Rhyme insists they team up. He wants her to do the legwork and use her natural instincts, which he insists make her an ideal homicide investigator. She's reluctant, and understandably unnerved by the inventive horrors she uncovers, but is drawn to both the case and Rhyme.
Despite Washington's limited acting options - Rhyme only has movement in his face and one finger, which he can conveniently use to operate a mouse - he does a solid job here, exhibiting Jimmy Stewart-like qualities. The Stewart comparison is apt, as Rhyme is reminiscent of his debilitated crime-cracker in Hitchcock's Rear Window. Jolie, at this breakthrough point in her career, gives a sensitive turn. Donaghy is both forthright and fragile, a tough cop but not one acquainted with atrocity. Director Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, Dead Calm) places the emphasis on the central relationship rather than the horror of the killings. So while The Bone Collector may be Seven's poor cousin, it is somewhat more palatable.
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