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Along Came a Spider (2001)

tomatometer

32

Average Rating: 4.6/10
Reviews Counted: 123
Fresh: 39 | Rotten: 84

Derivative and contains too many implausible situations.

28

Average Rating: 4.3/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 21

Derivative and contains too many implausible situations.

audience

63

liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 158,015

My Rating

Movie Info

Morgan Freeman returns as forensic psychologist Dr. Alex Cross in this thriller based on the novel by James Patterson (whose work also formed the basis of the hit Kiss the Girls). Gary Soneji (Michael Wincott) is a brilliant but remorseless psychopath who has landed a teaching position at an exclusive private school in Washington, D.C. Using his extensive knowledge of kidnapping (he's taught a class on Charles Lindbergh), Soneji abducts one of his students - Megan (Mika Boorem), whose father

R, 1 hr. 44 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Marc Moss

Sep 25, 2001

$73.6M

Paramount Pictures

Cast

All Critics (131) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (85) | DVD (20)

Even at half speed, Freeman excels: He knows how to whip out his badge at a crime scene and make it seem as if he had been doing it his whole life.

September 26, 2002 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There are popcorn movies, and then there are movies like this one, which, by its conclusion, make you want to toss your empty popcorn bag at the screen.

March 19, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Like a paperback plucked from a counter at an airport, Spider is an impulse buy of a film, a time killer that will neither tax your brain nor challenge your memory.

April 6, 2001 Full Review Source: USA Today | Comment
USA Today
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Gets tangled in its own web of absurdities.

April 6, 2001 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Mindless.

April 6, 2001 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A dreary, ludicrous thriller.

April 6, 2001 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Morgan Freeman reprises his role from Kiss the Girls in this inferior psychological thriller

June 23, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Blood, violence, murder good Freeman, dumb plot.

December 21, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

I don't begrudge Freeman his own hero-man franchise, but I wish the movies worked harder to be worthy of him.

July 23, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

I felt like I was kidnapped and forced to watch this drek as punishment.

July 1, 2006 Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | Comment

Enjoyment, or even tolerance, of 'Along Came A Spider' hangs upon a couple of plot twists, which even by Hollywood standards are pretty far-fetched.

February 13, 2003 Full Review Source: RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) | Comment

It's a good-looking, mostly well-acted but preposterously plotted movie.

December 16, 2002 Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | Comment
Daily Mail [UK]

The best I can say is that this was a relatively inoffensive way to pass a couple of hours, but after about a day I'm having trouble remembering any of it already.

December 8, 2002 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat

Director Lee Tamahori and screenwriter Marc Moss treat their star (and his character) with all due respect, and manage to turn out an engrossing, entertaining movie in the process.

October 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer | Comment (1)
Cincinnati Enquirer

Freeman, as always, is a still center of dependable calm and intelligence, but Potter registers only as another generic blonde.

October 3, 2002 Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | Comment
L.A. Weekly

Along Came a Spider isn't a smart thriller like Se7en or Copycat; instead, it's more of a watchable idiotic thriller.

September 25, 2002 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

[Lee]Tamahori keeps the pacing lively enough that he doesn't allow the audience time to linger on the many plot implausibilities

August 31, 2002 Full Review Source: Lawrence Journal-World | Comment
Lawrence Journal-World

Is it too much to ask for reasonable explanations of human behavior in a psychological thriller?

August 2, 2002 Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | Comment
ReelTalk Movie Reviews
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Along Came a Spider

Good acting from Freeman and Yelchin but that's pretty much the only good thing in this! Badly thought out film with a horribly predictive plot. Potter's performance was absolutely awful. Ending was plain and I did get the feeling that I was watching a sequel which I now know was part of a book series. I don't know if

January 8, 2012
StarCrossedVoyager
Sophie Burgess

Super Reviewer

Not bad but not as good as Kiss the girls. The third film is going to be called Humpty dumpty sat on a wall. That?s not true by the way.

September 24, 2009
SirPant

Super Reviewer

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Latest News for Along Came a Spider

February 1, 2011:
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April 26, 2007:
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