Retro Film Review: Bone Daddy (1998)
Rutger Hauer is one of the most dependable actors in Hollywood today. He earned that reputation not by steady stream of great films and great roles but by merely turning bad films into watchable and mediocre films into good enough. One display of such ability could be found in Bone Daddy, 1998 thriller directed by Mario Azzopardi.
In this film Hauer plays Doctor William H. Palmer, former chief medical examiner in Chicago who uses his experience to write crime novels. The most important case of his previous career – "Bone Daddy", the serial killer who mailed bones of his victims to their families - has served as an inspiration for Palmer's latest book. The book becomes bestseller, but there is one fatal difference between fiction and reality - in real life, unlike the book, killer was never caught. He is apparently displeased with the portrayal of his alter ego and expresses that by kidnapping Palmer's literary agent and removing bones from his still living captive. Palmer, who received the bones, is determined to rescue unfortunate man and joins police investigation. It soon becomes apparent that the sadistic killer is quite familiar with forensic pathology techniques.
Although Bone Daddy doesn't stray much from formulaic serial killer film cliches, it is still somewhat refreshing because of its greater emphasis on forensic science, so popularised by Patricia Cornwell books and TV-shows like CSI. The film is somewhat darker than its big budget equivalents, partly because of atmospheric Chicago and Canadian locations and partly because of the killers' inventive but gruesome modus operandi. One of two major actors is surprisingly good - Barbara Williams is more convincing as female detective than most of such characters in similar films. The ending is also somewhat unconventional. But this film's greatest asset is undoubtedly Rutger Hauer. Old enough to play grandfather in this film, Hauer is quite convincing as the protagonist who uses brains rather than muscles. Those viewers who don't mind graphic displays of blood and gore won't be disappointed with Bone Daddy.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on October 9th 2004)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/60504-bone-daddy
Critic: AA