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 Taking Lives (2004)
Rated: R for strong violence including disturbing images, language and some sexuality.
Runtime: 105 mins.
Director: D.J. Caruso
Writer: Michael Pye (novel); Jon Bokenkamp (screenplay)
Cast: Angelina Jolie; Ethan Hawke; Keifer Sutherland ....complete cast
Genre: Drama/Crime/Action
Tagline: He would kill to be you.
Memorable Quote: "How can I describe to you how dangerous he was? No...is!"
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| Reel commentary: ....The idea of somebody stealing other peoples' lives by killing them is very interesting; it's just a shame that the execution of the premise here is ordinary in all the wrong ways and extraordinary in none.....full review |
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by Dan Ferrisi (Guest Critic)
Taking Lives is a film with an extremely variable entertainment value: highly enjoyable for those with mild expectations and a disappointment for those who expect something truly special. This D.J. Caruso film is more in the mold of The Bone Collector than a true classic like Se7en. It delivers a few chills and the requisite amount of jump scenes (though none of the latter are all that effective), but the film as a whole is neither scary, unpredictable, nor plausible. Everything through the first hour seems far too obvious to be the whole truth, and the structure of the film makes the only possible plot twist obvious from a mile away. But, all of this isn't to say Taking Lives isn't worth seeing. It passes the time well and is generally entertaining; it just happens to also be totally disposable and forgettable seconds after the credits start rolling.
Angelina Jolie plays Illeana Scott, an FBI agent called in to help investigate a brutal murder in Montreal. The witness, James Costa (Ethan Hawke), is interrogated by Illeana as well as local detectives (including Olivier Martinez, who was better in Unfaithful). Costa, an artist, recounts the gory story and volunteers to draw a sketch of the man he watched bash a victim's face in. The relationship between the cops and Illeana immediately becomes a bit antagonistic, as she quickly believes Costa's story even though the others remain slightly skeptical. The relationship between Costa and Illeana, meanwhile, develops into a full flirtation. They are further drawn together as the case grows deeper and deeper, seeping years into a bloody past.
Illeana, in perhaps too sudden a manner, discovers that the man they are after is a serial killer who takes the lives of his loner victims. Every few years, he ditches his current identity and steals someone else's, in the most violent manner possible. In one of the film's best scenes, the probable killer is revealed by the secretive Mrs. Asher (a creepy Gena Rowlands), who claims that though her son Martin was said to have died years earlier, she recently came eye-to-eye with his icy stare--the same heartless face as appears in Costa's sketch. Soon, Illeana and the detectives must rush to protect Costa himself from the vengeful maniac (now revealed as Kiefer Sutherland) who seems to be stalking for a new identity.
The film is about an hour and 45 minutes, and everything thus far has occurred within the first hour or so, so a plot twist isn't the least bit unexpected. At the same time, all the "rules" are closely followed that should raise the ire of movie buffs familiar with thriller territory. That fact is disappointing considering how promising the pre-credit sequence is, in which Martin as a teenager takes over the identity of a runaway trying to escape an abusive home. Young Martin (Paul Franklin Dano) is genuinely scary here, as is the sudden murder of his companion on a desolate roadside. But alas, any similarity to Se7en (again, the standard in thrillers) vanishes after the derivative but nonetheless effective credits.
The fundamentals here are all solid. Jolie and her supporting cast are convincing, if unspectacular, in their roles. Ethan Hawke is particularly good, primarily because he fits the bill of "man in peril" well, with effective use of nervous ticks and panicky darting eyes. Though he is not much different here than he was as Phone Booth's menacing wacko, Sutherland fills his role's needs equally well. Director Caruso is able to muster some atmosphere, though again, almost everything can be traced back to past thrillers.
The biggest problem from which Taking Lives suffers is a long string of implausibilities that really pull the viewer out of the film. For example, during a totally extraneous car chase scene (yawn at ricocheting vehicles), a car makes a swerve and sets off a fiery wreck. In that car, one person is thrown through the windshield and obliterated. The other person escapes this horrific accident with mere cuts. Why? It is necessary for the plot. The idea of somebody stealing other peoples' lives by killing them is very interesting; it's just a shame that the execution of the premise here is ordinary in all the wrong ways and extraordinary in none.
Dan Ferrisi
See what other Frank's Reel Reviews critics have to say about Taking Lives.
Read Mermaid's review
Screen formats: Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1
Subtitles: English; French; Spanish; Closed Captioned
Language and Sound: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Other Features: Color; interactive menus; scene access; trailer; deleted scenes; featurettes.
- Featurettes:
- The Big Bounce: A Con in the Making: 12 minute piece featuring interviews with staff and crew as they discuss what it was like to make the movie, and the Hawaii setting.
- Surfing the Pipeline: 4-minute featurette with Owen Wilson and various stunt surfers as they discuss the stunts used in the making of the film.
- Wicked Waves: 8-minute featurette about Hawaiin surfing.
- Trailers: Original theatrical trailer in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Also includes trailers for Starsky and Hutch and The Whole Ten Yards.
Number of discs: 1
| Angelina Jolie.... |
Illeana |
| Ethan Hawke .... |
Costa |
| Kiefer Sutherland .... |
Hart |
| Gena Rowlands.... |
Mrs. Asher |
| Olivier Martinez .... |
Paquette |
| Tchéky Karyo .... |
Leclair |
| Jean-Hugues Anglade .... |
Duval |
| Paul Dano .... |
Young Asher |
| Justin Chatwin .... |
Matt Soulsby |
| André Lacoste .... |
Cashier |
| Billy Two Rivers .... |
Car Salesman |
| Richard Lemire .... |
Québec City Cop |
| Julien Poulin .... |
Québec City Inspector |
| Marie-Josée Croze .... |
Medical Examiner |
| Christian Tessier .... |
Interrogation Officer |
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