What could possess someone as mega-successful as Tyler Perry to step out of his comfortable world of top-grossing Madea comedies to venture into the gloomy world of James Patterson's Alex Cross? Already an industry unto himself, with a fiercely loyal African-American following that has made him one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, Perry slips uncomfortably into the role made famous by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. As fondly remembered as those two films are, they were fairly standard R-rated boilerplate thrillers. But compared to the inept Alex Cross they look like masterpieces.
A fish stinks from the head down, and in this case the initial decision to hire Stealth and The Fast and the Furious' Rob Cohen to direct what they hoped would be a gritty, intense crime procedural was a terrible call. Chaotic and distracting, his frantic camera stops shaking only occasionally enough for you to see how ugly and depressing the whole thing looks. This is not a fun movie to sit through by any means, but couldn't it have at least been fun to look at?
One can't help but wonder how things might have been different if Idris Elba had remained in the lead role of homicide detective Alex Cross, who we're repeatedly told is some sort of genius at psychoanalyzing his suspects. We only see it on display in a fashion so comical it's tough to take seriously. Perry, who has never had much screen presence when not donning a grandma wig, is bland and stiff as a corpse, especially during those wildly unconvincing scenes where he has to interact with others who are supposedly his closest associates. It's almost as if Perry has no clue how to act when the script and story are not of his own making, and he blunders through much of the film looking lost and out of place. He can't quite figure out how to portray Cross' superior intellect and drive, nor his furious anger when called upon to do so.
The story involves Cross matching wits a chiseled serial killer known as The Butcher played by Matthew Fox, a guy with a psychotic fetish for pain, both the inflicting and receiving of it. For reasons nobody bothered to consider until the drop dead last moments of the film, the Butcher is slicing and torturing his way through some of the city's elite, only stopping long enough to destroy the personal lives of Cross and his longtime partner and best friend, Tommy Kane(Ed Burns). Fox makes for a decent poor man's version of The Joker, but one can't help but wonder how much better he could have been if he had a more convincing actor to play off of.
Attempting to be edgy while also sanitized enough to please Perry's core audience, this PG-13 dud won't make anyone happy. An undercurrent of misogyny adds to the heavily depressing tone, and the film is self-serious to an incredible degree. There's barely a laugh to be found, except for when Perry is feeling his way through moments that require actual emotion. Screen vet Giancarlo Esposito turns up briefly as a crime lord Perry shares a past with, and instantly it becomes apparent just how much better than this film he is. The great Cicely Tyson adds a touch of fire into the mix as Cross' feisty mother, but she only goes to highlight Perry's weaknesses.
The most ridiculous stuff is saved for the inevitable showdown, which involves bazookas, car chases, keystone cops, and The Professional's Jean Reno somehow managing to make his real French accent sound like a caricature. None of the action is especially memorable, and I don't expect Cohen will be using the footage for any upcoming job interviews.
Perry is a really smart guy and a brilliant businessman, which is why it's so surprising he'd take on a film like this. Surely, he saw the potential profit in expanding his influence by joining forces with Patterson, but a misguided effort like this could do more harm to his empire than good. Hell, it deserves to do more harm than good. Perry may want to hope his devoted band of followers doesn't show up this weekend, so he can then quietly put this chapter behind him and move on to something more his speed.
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