This part of the movie has little intrinsic value for the movie as a whole, yet is responsible for setting the events in motion that result in Cross's character's subversion. In fact, Cross's jailhouse visits actually aid him in his subversive attempts to destroy Picasso by illicit means when the former breaks into his own police department and steals the one piece of evidence that can free the imprisoned girl and dispel any criminal wrongdoing on the part of her uncle in exchange for her uncle's help in locating Picasso. The fact that the girl's uncle is a criminal, and that Cross is working to both help free him from any wrongdoing as well as to illicitly kill Picasso, demonstrates just how profound his subversion is.
Virtually all of Hitchcock's masterful thriller's end fairly abruptly with a degree of ambiguity that leaves audiences unsure how to feel about the character transformations and the events that took place in them. They also contain a recapitulation in which the protagonist is questioned by others, usually in the form of some sort of trial (be it a literal or a figurative one). All of these conventions are evinced within Alex Cross. The police officer's vigilante justice is roundly questioned by his grandmother, who believes that his intentions are mislead and will bring about his own ruin, and should be directed towards helping his surviving family instead. The ultimate trial for Cross in this film, however, is his final scene with Picasso when the two battle to the death. The moral ambiguity that characterizes many of Hitchcock's movies is demonstrated within this scene due to the fact that, as Picasso hangs on the precipice of death and Cross's victory appears imminent, the latter proclaims "I made you"(Alex Cross) before plunging...
Picasso's statement reveals the fact that although Cross has killed his
antagonist, he has become frighteningly like him -- a murderer -- which leaves the
audience wondering as to the moral rectitude of the film's ending.
The deployment of Picasso throughout this film also sets up principle points of
comparison with traditional conventions of Hitchcock's psychological thrillers. The strong, brooding intensity that Picasso has as a hired killer is handily contrasted with a number of sources of irony which, in certain instances, help to underscore this crucial element of a thriller. In one scene, the audience gently laughs at the ribs and attenuated
nature of the killer's physique; in the next, it gasps in awe as he breaks his opponent's bones in a roughhouse. This sort of juxtaposition is also evinced as Picasso readies himself before a sexy siren, seemingly for a rampant bedroom voyage. The images of the woman's sultry lips, long hair and penetrating eyes are directly contrasted in the next scene with Picasso's aggressive manhandling that results in her premature death.
A thorough
analysis of Alex Cross indicates that there are several elements of this film that adhere to Hitchcock's traditional strategies for making a psychological thriller. The film's beginning (characterized by a MacGuffin) and it's ending, in which Cross's subversion and recapitulation of his reactions that led to other character's questioning his final trial, certainly reinforce this fact. The distinctive contrast between Cross's virtues and the decided lack of those virtues in Picasso are also typical of Hitchcock thrillers, as much as the subversion of Cross's characterization when he becomes just like Picasso -- if not worse.
Works Cited
Alex Cross. Dir. Rob. Cohen. Perf. Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Edward Burns. 2012. Film.
Lowe, Nick. "The Well Tempered Plot Device." Ansible. (46). 1986. Web.
Sharkey, Betsy. "Review: 'Alex Cross' and Tyler Perry are Armed with Silly Lines." Los Angeles Times. 2012. Web.
Truffaut, Francois, Hitchcock, Alfred, Scott, Helen. Hitchcock. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1985. Print.
