Case Study: Along Came A Spider

Along Came A Spider

Institutional Information:

Director: Lee Tamahori
Release Date: 4 May 2001
Country where made: USA
Awards won: BMI Film Music Award 2002
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Certificate: 15

Production Company: Paramount Pictures

Audience Response:
User Comment "Does What A Thriller Should, No More, No Less". I agree with this comment however, it is a good thriller, but it's not a great thriller. It has all the right twists and conventions, but it wasn't one that will be memorable. It could have been made better, by incorporating perhaps some conventions from other genres or cross- referencing to another film.
External Reviews
Tiscali UK:

'After the worldwide success of the grisly yet superb Seven in 1995, Morgan Freeman obviously decided that he hadn't had enough of chasing serial killers and promptly made the much less satisfactory Kiss The Girls. Based on a James Paterson book, it somehow captured the public imagination and became a modest success. Now Freeman returns in another adaptation of a Paterson novel, playing the same character and chasing another psychokiller. Co-produced by Freeman and directed by Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors), this is a much more successful venture than Kiss The Girls and will, with luck, be the beginning of a respectable franchise for one of the world's greatest living actors.

Based on the first Paterson novel to feature criminal profiler Alex Cross (Freeman), the film opens with a police trap that goes catastrophically wrong and forces Cross into early retirement. He spends his days mulling over what might have been and making model boats. Being the screen presence he is, watching Freeman making model boats for two hours would probably make a bearable movie in itself, but Hollywood needs must and soon enough he is back at the day job. At a local school for kids of the rich and famous, a teacher has kidnapped one of the prodigious pupils and begins sending Dr. Cross evidence of the abduction in the post. Not only does the kidnapper want to commit the crime of the century but he also wants to play mindgames with the successfully published psychologist.

If thrillers with plots that twist and turn every ten minutes are your bag then you could do a lot worse than going to see Along Came A Spider. While it initially appears that we will have yet another drawn out battle of wills between criminal and cop, there are more than enough unexpected gear changes to keep the audience happy. Some of them are admittedly ludicrous but most of them are genuinely clever. And none of them can be revealed here. Suffice to say that it becomes pretty clear pretty quickly that nothing should be taken for granted and very little is as it seems.'

User Ratings: There is very little difference, in the gender ratings of Along Came a Spider, merely 0.1% more females watched it than males, which is a suprising figure for the thriller genre, as it is usually the men who enjoy them more, due to the action and 'scare factor'. This film was also rated more by an older audience, over 45's had a 6.5% rating, whereas 5.6% were under 18. This could be due to the confusing plot, or simply the lack of action and relevance.

I found the film quite entertaining, the plot twists kept me watching, however there were one too many, and it was easy to get lost. It was quite slow paced and although it complied with thriller codes, wasn't very exciting or scary, it had a few shock factors, however I don't think this is the best thriller I've seen.

Codes and Conventions:

The location of the mise en scene, as seen above, is on a carriage on a train. It is a claustrophobic space, in an urban setting, which may not always be deserted but can still be threatening, as it is a moving vehicle. It is also an everyday method of transport, so the audience will find it relevant and therefore more realistic. Trains can also be quite cramped, which makes people suspect each other more. In the mise en scene it is also daylight outside the train, which would make it more obvious, if a crime took place.

The costume that the character Alex Crosse is wearing is more typical of the crime genre, with the long beige trenchcoat, however the jeans and shirt underneath make it less formal, and make him look like an everyday character. The long coat, shows he could be hiding something, which makes him quite mysterious but also quite proffesional as it is quite formal. Formal and proffesional costume makes the character come across as more trustworthy, as you know he is doing his job.

The only props used in this mise en scene, are a gun, which is common to the thriller genre, and what looks to be a drinks flask more relevather everyday object to make the scene more relevant to the audience. The gun brings crime and the idea of death into the scene, it is a powerful tool, and the fact that the character has one, makes him a powerful man in this situation.

The character's positioning is vital, having him at the left of the scene, with his arm coming across, opposite a large clear window, not only shows his vulnerability, at being seen or attacked through the window, but also shows his confidence and power, having a gun in his hand and holding it out ready to shoot. The other character in the scene is bent over, for protection, gaurding himself from any attack, he may be seen as the victim in the scene. The characters name in this scene, doesn't seem to have any connotations, Alex Crosse, however, one girl in the file last name rose is actually the victim, having the last name rose, could be resembling her to the gentle, delicate flower, making her seem more vulnerable, and therefore making it more shocking when she is kidnapped.

This scene uses natural, ambient lighting to, again, reinforce the idea of an everyday location on a train. The light is only shining slightly onto the bottom of the characters coat, perhaps showing that he may not be seen from the outside, from outside the window. The other lighting is from the train, this is not seen very clearly however.

The sound within the scene is mostly diagetic, the sound of the train moving,the window shattering and the people screaming, although the gunshot may have been added post production. This makes it seem natural and more realistic, the screaming adds an element of terror to the scene and the train moving reminds the audience that they are on a moving vehicle, making it harder to escape.

The camera tracks round to see what Alex Crosse is looking at, a point of view shot, out of the window. This provides tension, as it is a slow camera movement, it makes the audience want to know what will be seen out of the window.

There are no CGI's or inter textual references used during this scene.

The male character is represented as the powerful figure in this scene, as he is the one shooting at the criminal. This reinforces the idea of the alpha male, protecting the other people and taking control. The young girl is the victim of the kidnapping, she is seen as more vulnerable, in the way that most young females are represented.