
DATE: Tuesday, October 7, 1997              TAG: 9710070032

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   81 lines

DARK FILM DELIVERS FINE ACTING, SUSPENSE

NORFOLK'S GARY FLEDER steps into the major league, big-studio realm of directors with a taut, beautifully paced psychological thriller called ``Kiss the Girls.'' It's the kind of film that will encourage you to go home and lock the doors.

At the same time, given its subject matter, it is restrained, with most of the unspeakable crimes taking place off camera.

The question, however, remains: Do we need another ``serial killer'' drama? Whether justly or not, ``Kiss the Girls'' inevitably will be compared to ``Seven'' and ``The Silence of the Lambs,'' both surprise hits - in neither case did anyone think mainstream audiences would flock to material quite this dark.

Fleder, who grew up in Norfolk and advanced to Hollywood via the academic route of Boston University and University of Southern California, has noticeably toned down the gore of James Patterson's novel while, almost miraculously, retaining most of the suspense.

Doing much to lend the film an air of dignity is the presence of Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, a Washington, D.C., forensic psychologist who is something of a modern Sherlock Holmes. He becomes personally involved when his niece becomes one of eight missing women in the Durham, N.C., area. Volunteering to aid in the pursuit of the serial killer, he runs into typical Hollywood-stereotype resistance to his ``big-city'' interference with the Durham police department.

Freeman has the kind of level-headed gentility that lends logic to films that might otherwise be illogical.

Ashley Judd gives a star-making performance as one of the victims, the only girl to escape the killer. Her character is believably tough-minded and no-nonsense. She's a fitting accomplice to Freeman.

The supporting cast is made up of a number of red herrings and suspicious characters including Cary Elwes (``The Princess Bride,'' ``Lady Jane'') and Tony Goldwyn (``Ghost'').

Of particular interest are the exterior shots of the Duke University campus (with one shot of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which, apparently afraid of the dark material, didn't encourage filming). The score by Mark Isham is suitably foreboding and helps build tension.

The killer keeps his captive women in a dark basement hideout with separate living quarters for each - a kind of depraved harem. Unlike some of the other serial killers of this growing film genre, he claims to actually like women. Rather than gut them outright, he merely ties his victims to a tree in the Carolina woods - and leaves them to their fates. Patterson got the idea for the novel when, while visiting Chapel Hill, he noticed a bulletin board notice about missing women.

Major credit, according to the director, should be given to Norfolk native Marc Moss, who aided in the rewrites but is not mentioned in the credits. Writers' Guild negotiators gave full writing credit to David Klass, who penned the original script.

The culprit is easy to guess - almost too easy - but then, the film is not primarily a whodunit. It's a psychological study. A major flaw is that, even when the culprit is identified, we don't know enough about his motives or psyche.

But no matter. It's a good game while the film is unreeling.

The film opened as No. 1 in the nation with a weekend gross of $13.4 million. The other major movie opening of the weekend, Oliver Stone's ``U-Turn,'' came in ninth.

Fleder has a fine eye toward camera angles and movement that de-emphasize most of the implausibilities of this dark story. His engineering of the Freeman and Judd performances proves that he knows how to work with actors. He's a director to watch - and we will for years to come. ILLUSTRATION: KIMBERLY WRIGHT photo

Ashley Judd gives a star-making performance in the suspense thriller

``Kiss the Girls'' as a survivor of a serial killer.

Graphic

MOVIE REVIEW

``Kiss the Girls''

Cast: Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, Alex McArthur,

Tony Goldwyn, Jay O. Sanders, William Converse-Roberts

Director: Gary Fleder

Screenplay: David Klass

Music: Mark Isham

MPAA rating: R (language, gory violence suggested)

Mal's rating: 3 stars