SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: ALONG CAME A SPIDER

"ALONG CAME A SPIDER"
(2001) (Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
*Minor	Heavy	Extreme	Heavy	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	None	Extreme	None	Heavy

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	Minor	Moderate	Moderate	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Suspense/Thriller: A D.C. detective and a Secret Service agent join forces to find a young hostage and her kidnapper who's playing mind games with them.

PLOT:

Eight months after seeing his partner die during a botched undercover operation, D.C. detective Alex Cross (MORGAN FREEMAN) still hasn't forgiven himself for the incident or really gotten on with his life. His somber retreat, however, is broken when he suddenly finds himself thrust into the middle of a high-profile kidnapping case.

An apparent schoolteacher, Gary Soneji (MICHAEL WINCOTT), has kidnapped Megan Rose (MIKA BOOREM), the 12-year-old daughter of Senator (MICHAEL MORIARTY) and Mrs. Rose (PENELOPE ANN MILLER), despite her being under Secret Service protection run by agents Jezzie Flannigan (MONICA POTTER) and Ben Devine (BILLY BURKE), and has decided to get Cross involved in the case.

Arriving on the scene and meeting the head government agent in charge, Ollie McArthur (DYLAN BAKER), Cross gets to work investigating the case, asking that Jezzie be allowed on it due to her close involvement for several years with both Megan and Soneji. While the FBI believes that the kidnapper is just after money, Cross believes otherwise, particularly when he discovers that Soneji appears to be fixated on the historic kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby from the 1930s

As they realize that they're dealing with a deranged individual who's taken a long time to set up the crime and is now intent on playing mind games with them, Alex and Jezzie try to decipher his clues that they hope will eventually lead to him and the kidnapped girl.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of anyone in the cast, detective-based thrillers or the first film in this series, "Kiss the Girls," they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For violence and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: To keep from giving away any surprises in the film, certain late developing attributes about the following characters have been omitted.
MORGAN FREEMAN plays a D.C. detective who's still troubled by his partner's death eight months earlier when he's unwillingly pulled into the kidnapping case. Showing a great deal of smarts and patience, he eventually cracks and solves the case. He briefly uses some profanity.
MONICA POTTER plays a Secret Service agent who's upset that she allowed Megan to be kidnapped on her watch. She then joins forces with Cross to find the kidnapper and save the girl and briefly uses strong profanity.
MICHAEL WINCOTT plays the psychopath who kidnaps Megan, tries to kidnap another child, and plays mind games with Cross and Jezzie. He briefly uses some strong profanity and kills various people.
DYLAN BAKER plays the lead government agent on the case who initially doesn't want Cross or Flannigan on it, but then changes his mind.
MIKA BOOREM plays the 12-year-old girl who unexpectedly finds herself Soneji's hostage and tries using her smarts to escape.
ANTON YELCHIN plays a young Russian boy who's one of Megan's friends.
BILLY BURKE plays one of Jezzie's Secret Service cohorts.
MICHAEL MORIARTY and PENELOPE ANN MILLER play the U.S. Senator and his wife who are concerned and worried about their kidnapped daughter. He briefly uses strong profanity.; MORGAN FREEMAN plays a D.C. detective who's still troubled by his partner's death eight months earlier when he's unwillingly pulled into the kidnapping case. Showing a great deal of smarts and patience, he eventually cracks and solves the case. He briefly uses some profanity.
MONICA POTTER plays a Secret Service agent who's upset that she allowed Megan to be kidnapped on her watch. She then joins forces with Cross to find the kidnapper and save the girl and briefly uses strong profanity.
MICHAEL WINCOTT plays the psychopath who kidnaps Megan, tries to kidnap another child, and plays mind games with Cross and Jezzie. He briefly uses some strong profanity and kills various people.
DYLAN BAKER plays the lead government agent on the case who initially doesn't want Cross or Flannigan on it, but then changes his mind.
MIKA BOOREM plays the 12-year-old girl who unexpectedly finds herself Soneji's hostage and tries using her smarts to escape.
ANTON YELCHIN plays a young Russian boy who's one of Megan's friends.
BILLY BURKE plays one of Jezzie's Secret Service cohorts.
MICHAEL MORIARTY and PENELOPE ANN MILLER play the U.S. Senator and his wife who are concerned and worried about their kidnapped daughter. He briefly uses strong profanity.; MONICA POTTER plays a Secret Service agent who's upset that she allowed Megan to be kidnapped on her watch. She then joins forces with Cross to find the kidnapper and save the girl and briefly uses strong profanity.
MICHAEL WINCOTT plays the psychopath who kidnaps Megan, tries to kidnap another child, and plays mind games with Cross and Jezzie. He briefly uses some strong profanity and kills various people.
DYLAN BAKER plays the lead government agent on the case who initially doesn't want Cross or Flannigan on it, but then changes his mind.
MIKA BOOREM plays the 12-year-old girl who unexpectedly finds herself Soneji's hostage and tries using her smarts to escape.
ANTON YELCHIN plays a young Russian boy who's one of Megan's friends.
BILLY BURKE plays one of Jezzie's Secret Service cohorts.
MICHAEL MORIARTY and PENELOPE ANN MILLER play the U.S. Senator and his wife who are concerned and worried about their kidnapped daughter. He briefly uses strong profanity.; MICHAEL WINCOTT plays the psychopath who kidnaps Megan, tries to kidnap another child, and plays mind games with Cross and Jezzie. He briefly uses some strong profanity and kills various people.
DYLAN BAKER plays the lead government agent on the case who initially doesn't want Cross or Flannigan on it, but then changes his mind.
MIKA BOOREM plays the 12-year-old girl who unexpectedly finds herself Soneji's hostage and tries using her smarts to escape.
ANTON YELCHIN plays a young Russian boy who's one of Megan's friends.
BILLY BURKE plays one of Jezzie's Secret Service cohorts.
MICHAEL MORIARTY and PENELOPE ANN MILLER play the U.S. Senator and his wife who are concerned and worried about their kidnapped daughter. He briefly uses strong profanity.; DYLAN BAKER plays the lead government agent on the case who initially doesn't want Cross or Flannigan on it, but then changes his mind.
MIKA BOOREM plays the 12-year-old girl who unexpectedly finds herself Soneji's hostage and tries using her smarts to escape.
ANTON YELCHIN plays a young Russian boy who's one of Megan's friends.
BILLY BURKE plays one of Jezzie's Secret Service cohorts.
MICHAEL MORIARTY and PENELOPE ANN MILLER play the U.S. Senator and his wife who are concerned and worried about their kidnapped daughter. He briefly uses strong profanity.; MIKA BOOREM plays the 12-year-old girl who unexpectedly finds herself Soneji's hostage and tries using her smarts to escape.
ANTON YELCHIN plays a young Russian boy who's one of Megan's friends.
BILLY BURKE plays one of Jezzie's Secret Service cohorts.
MICHAEL MORIARTY and PENELOPE ANN MILLER play the U.S. Senator and his wife who are concerned and worried about their kidnapped daughter. He briefly uses strong profanity.; ANTON YELCHIN plays a young Russian boy who's one of Megan's friends.
BILLY BURKE plays one of Jezzie's Secret Service cohorts.
MICHAEL MORIARTY and PENELOPE ANN MILLER play the U.S. Senator and his wife who are concerned and worried about their kidnapped daughter. He briefly uses strong profanity.; BILLY BURKE plays one of Jezzie's Secret Service cohorts.
MICHAEL MORIARTY and PENELOPE ANN MILLER play the U.S. Senator and his wife who are concerned and worried about their kidnapped daughter. He briefly uses strong profanity.; MICHAEL MORIARTY and PENELOPE ANN MILLER play the U.S. Senator and his wife who are concerned and worried about their kidnapped daughter. He briefly uses strong profanity.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated suspense/thriller. Violence is listed as extreme due to people being killed in various fashions (most by gunshot, but another by strangulation, and another by a fall down a dam-based waterfall). Some of those instances have bloody results, they may be unsettling or suspenseful to viewers (as might other cat and mouse type moments) and those responsible for them (and the kidnapping of a young girl and then trying to kill her) have extreme cases of bad attitudes.

Profanity consists of at least 6 uses of the "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrase are also used. Some brief, but explicit sexually related dialogue is present as a suspect tries to get an undercover cop to perform oral sex on him (pushing her head down toward his crotch), but nothing sexual then happens. Beyond that, a few characters smoke and some tense family moments are present in the form of parents worrying about their kidnapped daughter.

If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone in your home who may wish to see it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what occurs in the film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Alex may have a drink, but it's hard to tell what's in his glass.

BLOOD/GORE: Blood squirts out as a man is shot in the leg.
A woman has some blood on her head after being in a car accident.
We briefly see some purple strangulation marks around a teacher's neck after she's been killed.
Blood squirts out from a man's clothing and head as he's shot several times. We later see his dead body and see the small bullet hole in his head.
Soneji shoots and kills two police officers in their car (they and the glass inside the car are then bloody).
We see blood on a knife and some on the floor after a person stabs another person in the leg.
A person's clothing is bloody after they're shot in the chest with a shotgun.
A person shoots another person dead with a gunshot to the head and we see blood run from the wound.
A person is shot and blood runs out of the bullet hole wound in their clothing (the person also has some blood on their face).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: The man responsible for Alex's partner's death obviously has both.
Soneji obviously has both for kidnapping Megan, killing various people and wanting to be famous for all of that.
Agent McArthur initially has somewhat of a bad attitude toward Alex, but that later changes.
Agent Devine has some toward Jezzie for letting Megan be kidnapped under their watch and thus probably ruining their careers with the service.
Several other characters turn out to have major cases of bad attitudes that involve some serious crimes.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" may also be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers.
Alex's partner holds a gun on a suspect in the car he's driving. He then slams on the brakes, she shoots him in the leg and their car then smashes into the wall and guardrail on either side of the road before blasting over the edge of a dam and momentarily becoming stuck there. As officers try to save the woman, the car eventually falls from its perch, sending it and her to their watery demise.
Soneji suddenly grabs Megan in his classroom and injects something into her neck that renders her unconscious. Another teacher comes in and tends to Megan who Soneji says has passed out. He then grabs a chord and strangles that teacher to death.
Trying to escape, Megan slyly puts a battery pack into the gas burner on Soneji's stove. The pack eventually explodes and catches his boat kitchen on fire. As he tries to put it out, she escapes and jumps overboard, trying to swim to a fisherman on the shore. Soneji puts out the fire, revs up the boat's engines and races toward them as the man wades out to help Megan. Soneji then shoots the man several times, killing him, and then retrieves Megan.
Soneji tries to kidnap another child, but Jezzie and Alex interrupt his plans and exchange some gunfire with him, with the two officials hitting his car and blowing out his tire, but some other security guards come onto the scene (not knowing what's happening) and stop them as Soneji escapes.
Soneji goes into the place where he's holding Megan with a gun as if he's going to kill her, but she's not there.
Jezzie holds her gun on a suspect who thought he had heard something and was walking through a building with his gun, but it then turns out that she's just playing with this man, thus making the viewer worry about her safety.
Megan tries to escape from her "cell" as her kidnapper repeatedly tries to shoot her through the door (that's been wedged shut) and then from up above the holding "cell" (in a several minute sequence where many shots are fired).

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns/Shotgun/Assault weapons/Knife: Carried and/or used to threaten, fire at, wound or kill various people. See "Violence" for details.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "What the f*ck is this?" "You f*cking bitch," "Open the f*cking door," "What the hell is it?" "Nuts" (crazy), "Hauling ass," "Shut up," "You idiot" and "That beats the hell out of…"
Trying to escape, Megan slyly puts a battery pack into the gas burner on Soneji's stove, knowing that the pack will eventually explode (it does).

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): An extreme amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays during the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 6 "f" words, 1 "s" word, 1 slang term using male genitals ("c*cks*cker"), 3 hells, 1 ass, 1 damn and 1 use each of "G-damn" and "Oh God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: After hearing Cross say the following in her earpiece (while undercover in a car with a suspect), his female partner repeats, "What is it about big hair that turns men on anyway?" We then see that suspect put his hand on this woman's bare inner thigh as he moves her dress up. That man then tells the woman that he thinks she's a "natural born c*cks*cker" and that "it's time you do what you were born to do." We then see him take off his seat belt and undo his pants. He then takes her head and tries to force it down on his crotch, but nothing else sexual happens from that point on as she pulls her gun on him.
Referring to his daughter's kidnapper, Senator Rose asks if they're dealing with a sex maniac and Alex reassures him that they're not.

SMOKING: We see Jezzie rotating a pack of cigarettes in her hands in one scene. She later smokes once, as does Agent Devine and two miscellaneous characters.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Megan's parents obviously worry about their daughter after she's kidnapped (but there aren't many scenes with them).
Jezzie indicates that she knew little about her father.
Soneji admits to killing his parents when he was fifteen by burning down their house.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: The historical case of the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby.
How it's unlikely that one's teacher will end up kidnapping them.
Real-life detective work and how most suspects usually don't leave clues and/or play mind games with those who are pursuing them.

VIOLENCE: Alex's partner holds a gun on a suspect in the car he's driving. He then slams on the brakes, she shoots him in the leg and their car then smashes into the wall and guardrail on either side of the road before blasting over the edge of a dam and momentarily becoming stuck there. As officers try to save the woman, the car eventually falls from its perch, sending it and her to their watery demise.
Soneji suddenly grabs Megan in his classroom and injects something into her neck that renders her unconscious. Another teacher comes in and tends to Megan who Soneji says has passed out. He then grabs a chord and strangles that teacher to death.
Jezzie kicks open a door.
FBI agents blast open a door looking for Soneji and enter a house with their weapons drawn.
Trying to escape, Megan slyly puts a battery pack into the gas burner on Soneji's stove. The pack eventually explodes and catches his boat kitchen on fire. As he tries to put it out, she escapes and jumps overboard, trying to swim to a fisherman on the shore. Soneji puts out the fire, revs up the boat's engines and races toward them as the man wades out to help Megan. Soneji then shoots the man several times, killing him, and then retrieves Megan.
Soneji shoots and kills two police officers in their car (they and the glass inside the car are then bloody).
Soneji tries to kidnap another child, but Jezzie and Alex interrupt his plans and exchange some gunfire with him, with the two officials hitting his car and blowing out his tire, but some other security guards come onto the scene (not knowing what's happening) and stop them as Soneji escapes (and backs over a fire hydrant in the process).
Instructed by the kidnapper, Cross shoots out a subway car window (from the inside) so that he can toss out the ransom to someone on the tracks as the train speeds past them.
Soneji zaps Jezzie with a stun gun, knocking her to the floor and rendering her unconscious.
Soneji and Cross hold their guns on each other.
Jezzie stabs a person in the leg who then hits her on the head with his gun.
Cross shoots a person dead with a shotgun blast to the chest.
Jezzie holds her gun on a suspect.
A person shoots another person dead with a gunshot to the head.
Alex kicks open a door.
Megan tries to escape from her "cell" as her kidnapper repeatedly tries to shoot her through the door (that's been wedged shut) and then from up above the holding "cell" (in a several minute sequence where many shots are fired).
A person shoots another person dead.

Reviewed April 4, 2001 / Posted April 6, 2001

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