Alex Cross

This is going to be quick because I don't have a lot to say about Alex Cross.  It is my personal mission to find nice, supportive things to say about any movie so here goes... You could tell that everyone tried really hard.  However, if I've learned anything from my 20-30 viewings (a low estimate) of ballet movie, Center Stage, it's that the audience doesn't want to see the effort behind the dancing.  The same is true for any art form really, so my analogy works.  The best movies don't happen effortlessly but they should appear that way.  We should not be seeing how much work someone is putting into their performance.  This is exactly what happens in Alex Cross.  Tyler Perry tries really hard and sometimes it's ok but mostly it just seemed like effort.  Matthew Fox, bless him, tried really, really, really hard.  And his effort to be a specific kind of crazy was evident the entire performance.  From what I know about acting, and admittedly it's not much, it's an actors' dream to get a crazy role.  It's like catnip to them.  It can be done well and it can go way overboard.  Done well and it's Robert DeNiro in Caper Fear.  Done poorly and it's, well, Matthew Fox in Alex Cross.  Foxy just really went for it.  Dude had crazy eyes and you could see that he was digging every second of it.  Really, how could you blame the guy after the physical transformation he went through?

From foxy to creepy

That would give anyone crazy eyes.

Let's see, other nice things to say...  The idea behind the story was interesting.  Oh and anyone into revenge movies and such would totally dig this movie.  Revenge is gotten.  Um, I giggled at one point but it wasn't what the director or actor would have wanted.  There's this scene in the police station where Alex Cross (who, if you aren't familiar is a detective with a background in psychology so he's really good at his job) says to his chief that there is no profile for the guy they're trying to capture.  Seconds later, Cross turns, looks off into the distance (actually out a window maybe) and proceeds to work up this elusive profile.  Perry is so earnest but it was just so...awkward. 

I think folks less critical than I would probably enjoy the movie.  Giancarlo Esposito showed up and I always enjoy him.  Cicely Tyson was in it too and put in one of the better performances.  The woman is stunning, y'all!.  Edward Burns was fine even though I still can't get past his voice.  The directing was meh.  The dialogue was not good and sometimes really bordered on cheesy. I dunno, again, if you like revenge flicks then you might get a kick out of this. Or if you're just weirdly fascinated with Matthew Fox then I'd definitely recommend it.  Dude needs to go back to TV.  Movies are not his thing (see also: Vantage Point and Speed Racer).