Factual error: At the end, Denzel Washington's character has a Grand Mal Seizure. But he is supposed to have a spinal cord injury. He can still have seizures in that the electrical impulses in his brain go haywire, but if he has a spinal cord injury that prevents him from moving, the seizure action in his brain wouldn't translate to his body jerking and shaking.

The Bone Collector (1999)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Denzel Washington, Michael Rooker, Queen Latifah
The killer is Richard. Forensic expert, Lincoln Rhyme wrote an article years ago stating Marcus (Richard) planted evidence at a crime scene, for which he received six years in jail. He committed the murders and planted clues because he wanted to test how good a dectective Lincoln actually is. At the end, Richard kills Thelma and then goes after Lincoln. When Richard is about to stab Lincoln, who is a quadraplegic, Officer Amelia Donaghy arrives and shoots Richard.
Suggested correction: You can still have involuntary muscle movement with a spinal cord injury...so if it was a seizure (it wasn't) his muscle could twitch (likely not as much as his did though).
Yes you can get severe involuntary muscle spasms. I have been having more so recently. And his face and recovery is exactly what I am experiencing. I have spinal stenosis and myelomalacia and now on diazepam. Well Done Denzel Washington.
Suggested correction: It isn't a Grand Mal seizure, he's faking an attack of autonomic dysreflexia. (It still wouldn't cause his extremities to shake, he would still only be able to move his head and shoulders).
Lincoln Rhyme: Whatever happened to your father doesn't mean it's gonna happen to you. You're a great cop. You'd make a terrific detective. It's a gift. Don't throw it away.
Trivia: The Director, Phillip Noyce, makes a cameo appearance as the man in the bookstore.
Question: There is a LOT of changes if you compare the film to the book, and most of them I understand, since you always have to make some changes. But why did they change such things as characters names and genders?
Answer: The film makers changed the name of Amelia Sachs because it sounded too much like 'sex'. I have not been able to discover for certain why they made Thom into a woman, but possibly this had to do with Thom's homosexuality. It could be viewed as controversial that Rhyme's nurse is a gay man, and could possibly also bring Rhyme's own sexuality into question. To make the nurse female would avoid all such issues.
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