Matthew Fox Makes Alex Cross Worth The Watch
By Dale Lavine
Starting off, Tyler Perry’s new movie Alex Cross (taking over the previous character portrayal from one Morgan Freeman) seems to be the epitome of cheesy and the ultimate cliché. Not to my surprise, I read early reviews that placed its general being between that of a Madea movie and Taken – essentially, someone gives Madea a gun. As stereotypical as Madea and Tyler Perry have become, the movie actually lends itself a greater description than the above.
Save for a select handful of moments in which Perry’s acting as Alex Cross is laughable (and the cluttered, messy camerawork) the film is actually quite good. While the movie holds a 9% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I believe it does deserve some applause…which it actually received when the movie ended, at least in my theater (not from myself, however).
The only real takeaways from the film were John C. McGinley and Edward Burns, who – save for the script itself – provided the majority of the comic relief in the film. Matthew Fox, however, is the real star of the film. His character, known simply as “Picasso” or “The Butcher”, represents deep psychosis and a sick pleasure in making others hurt. I won’t go into detail as to avoid spoilers, but there’s a reason why Perry’s portrayal of Alex Cross is so set on hunting Fox’s character down (two, technically). Upon reading an interview between Men’s Fitness and Fox, it became clear that his role required not only intense physical devotion, but an absolute change in mental process as well. He said of the preparation, “Without question, man. The physical preparation was almost a relief, in some respects, from the headspace.”
The film takes on Paranormal Activity 4 this weekend, and is almost sure to lose that battle – but if you have time to spare, Alex Cross is easily the better choice of the two if you’re looking for substance over scare this weekend.
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