<strong>Alex Cross</strong> <strong>Director: Rob Cohen</strong> <strong>Starring: Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Edward Burns, Jean Reno</strong> • James Patterson's detective novels may be bestsellers, but they haven't enjoyed a smooth transition to the big screen. Two previous adaptations, 1997's <em>Along Came a Spider</em> and 2001's <em>Kiss the Girls</em>, were fronted by the stately Morgan Freeman, but neither proved particularly successful. This fresh stab, rather bizarrely, opts for a younger, agitated Cross, in the form of the entertainment powerhouse Perry. Complete with standard-issue moustache, Perry's Cross is one you wouldn't want to agitate unless you're a psycho going by the name of Picasso (Fox). The director Cohen (<em>The Fast and the Furious</em>, <em>Stealth</em>) mines his Detroit setting to a point but, like the script, it feels too cliched to be of any lasting import. Late-night TV fodder for insomniacs, perhaps, nothing more. Follow <strong>Arts & Life on Twitter</strong> to keep up with all the latest news and events