The Bone Collector

Universal Pictures | Release Date: November 5, 1999

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

45	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson

One of our very few consummate movie star actors, Washington can't quite elevate this dismal material as he's been able to do in the past, but he retains his dignity.

William Arnold

Quickly assumes the characteristics of a bad slasher movie. Read full review

Lisa Alspector

This mild thriller's consistently dark atmosphere makes the scene-of-the-crime tableaux...transcend exploitation and even suggest a kind of feminist odyssey. Read full review

Wesley Morris

This is neither a psychological thriller nor an erotic one, so any interest in the story is purely the work of its stars.

Susan Wloszczyna

The ending stinks.

Amy Taubin

So formulaic and predictable that you're bored even when you're scared. Read full review

Film.comErnest Hardy

Although the film disappoints in the final stretch (both the villain and his motive turn out to be very lame), it confidently thrills for most of its nearly two-hour length. Read full review

Kenneth Turan

A tribute to old-fashioned craftsmanship and skill both on and off the screen, it's as crisp and efficient as its law enforcement protagonists, able to make the best of its traditional genre elements. Read full review

Stephen Holden

A cinematic game that might be called Urban Creep Show, New York-style. Read full review

Stephanie Zacharek

There's only one good reason to see The Bone Collector, and her name is Angelina Jolie. Read full review

Richard Schickel

It's kind of fun--if you have the stomach for its more grisly passages. Read full review

Gary Thompson

Weaknesses are confirmed in the movie's laughable climax.

Peter Travers

Abandon all hope of logic, you who enter here.

Film.comRobert Horton

Sometimes star power alone can keep you from walking out of a movie, and this is one of those times. Read full review

Roger Ebert

The quality of the acting is so much better than the material deserves. Read full review

Jay Carr

Washington and Jolie earn their stripes here, but more texture would have resulted, I think, in more terror. Read full review

Marc Savlov

A middling urban thriller that's one part "Rear Window" and three parts "Seven." Read full review

Ruthe Stein

Often falls flat. Read full review

F. X. Feeney

By the last third, one is sick to death of seeing people tortured, no real catharsis is offered, and stupid is how one feels. Read full review

TNT RoughCutMatt Kelsey

Both leads perform admirably.

Lisa Schwarzbaum

A skeleton-thin thriller wrapped in glamorous production values. Read full review

Stephen Hunter

You may have as much fun tearing it apart in its aftermath as you do watching it, but the fun is still genuine. Read full review

Eric S. Arnold

May be formulaic...but many good recipes are. Read full review

Jami Bernard

Slick entertainment. Read full review

David Sterritt

This variation on the "Rear Window" format works best when director Noyce gives free rein to Washington's thoughtful charm. Read full review

Lawrence Toppman

If you have a strong stomach, a weak sense of disbelief, an active interest in Denzel Washington or Angelina Jolie and a temporarily inactive brain, you may enjoy it awhile. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh

Climaxes in an ending of such sleazy preposterousness that it's almost worth the price of admission alone. Read full review

Michael Wilmington

Two gifted co-stars, Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, and the highly imaginative thriller specialist Phillip Noyce lend some luster and credibility to another borderline-absurd scenario.

Dennis Harvey

Entertaining but never fully engrossing. Read full review

Sara Wildberger

The plot and characters are simultaneously far-fetched and cliched, the dialogue has that jocular, slightly slower than sitcom ring, and the ending is a righteously cheesy letdown.

Diana Abu-Jaber

The movie's atmosphere is moody and intense, bubbling like a caldron. Unfortunately, the broth turns out to be stone soup.

Lou Lumenick

Entertaining but terminally dopey.

David Edelstein

A piece of exploitive schlock. Read full review