Customer Reviews

Taking Lives

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(50)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Angelina Jolie is to be commended for taking on so many different kinds of characters from her Oscar winning turn in GIRL INTERRUPTED, to the athletic Lara Croft in those two movies, to this suspenseful, if predictable, serial killer thriller. She plays an FBI agent/profiler called in to help the Montreal police in trapping a serial killer. This particular nasty has been killing for over 20 years, and we find out early in the film who he is when he's a youngster, but what about now? Who has he metamorphosized in to?
Director D. J. Caruso gives us a probable suspect, but it's really a red herring, and the true identity should be detected early on. That doesn't spoil the movie, though; it actually makes you feel like a detective because you figured it out.
Along with Jolie's competent performance, Ethan Hawke does well as artist James Costa; Gena Rowlands gives a good performance as Mrs. Asher; and Kiefer Sutherland, looking a little older and heavier, does a usually good turn as a mysterious neighbor of Hawke's. There's a couple of jump out of your seat scares and overall, despite the predictability, TAKING LIVES is a good entry in the ever growing serial killer genre.

"Taking Lives" stars Angelina Jolie as FBI profiler Illeana Scott who is assigned to Montreal, and the case of a particularly vicious serial murderer. The killer has been taking lives for 20 years, since his teens, assuming his victims' identities with each crime. There's a line in the movie to the effect that he's "like a hermit crab - when he grows out of his shell, (home), he moves on." OK! So it's not brilliant dialogue, but until we reach the film's halfway mark it is forgivable. After the 1st hour, or so, this scary, chiller-thriller loses its edge in a serious way. The last scenes are really contrived - just not believable by any stretch of the imagination.

Jolie is her usual sexy self as the loner, fast-track agent from Washington, DC. She is welcomed by her old friend and colleague, Captain Hugo Leclair, (Tchécky Karyo), of the Montreal Sūreté, but is resented by macho detective Paquette, (Olivier Martinez), who is handsome in a surly kinda way. Illeana's approach to crime solving is extremely intuitive and unconventional, to say the least - but her unorthodox methods get results, and this case is no different. She quickly comes up with some leads that her Canadian counterparts have missed. Then art gallery owner James Costa, (Ethan Hawke), an actual murder witness, steps in to help the detectives. Costa, who has some artistic talent, is able to sketch the suspect. The hunt picks up speed, and the plot begins to twist, turn and occasionally surprise. I had at least one major scare! There's a decent car chase, a steamy love scene, (super steamy in the Director's Cut), and an unusual take on Illeana's character - all pluses.

The cast is excellent. Ms. Jolie is good here and she develops her character well. If you're an Angelina Jolie fan, you will enjoy her performance. Kiefer Sutherland, Gena Rowlands and Ethan Hawke also bring some bright moments to the screen. I just wonder why all these talented artists agreed to make this film. Director D.J. Caruso made some really wrong turns, which is sad because he had such a great cast to work with, a potentially good plot, and the wonderful scenery of French Canada to assist him toward success.

I was entertained by much of the movie for reasons mentioned above, but the poor resolution soured me on "Taking Lives."
JANA

I just saw this movie last week, and it stunned me in ways I never expected. Reading many of these reviews, I think it must simply be where you are in your own interests and experience in life when you see this film. It disappointed on some levels, but it astounded me on others. In the end, the acting and chemistry of Hawke and Jolie are so delicious I have to give it 5 stars.

Warning: SPOILER follows, so if you don't want to know, stop here.

A true crime buff who has studied serial crime for about a decade, I viewed the film from that perspective and found it wanting. Profilers don't "intuit" so much as was implied here by lying in graves. They use solid data culled from 30 years of studying and interviewing actual criminals. So Jolie's character is somewhat misleading in how she "represents" that whole process. I found the direction wanting in the cheap thrills stolen from a litany of classic thrillers. I also agree that the sound editor should have been replaced before this movie was released. I think some of the disappoints of the film are based in not understanding much of what is being said (though I got a second copy and the sound was much better, so maybe there was a bad run of dvds). The most jarring false note in the movie is after the car chase, before the car blows up. Not plausible.

But on another level, the acting is sublime. The arc of Hawke's characterization is the real pleasure of watching this film. The killer's transmutation is mind-bending. The final scene, in which his inner life is revealed, is breathtaking. It is the whole point of the movie, a major plot twist you don't see coming: in order to conceal the true identity of the killer, the director obscures the killer's pathology for most of the movie, reducing it to a few sound bites. Anyone looking for a well-developed movie could be confused by the turn of the last 30 minutes.

I have seen little of Hawke's work before, but scene by scene, I consider this performance as good as any I have ever seen on film. The chemistry between Hawke and Jolie is palpable. The sex scene that offends so many was, to me, unique in cinema: the walk across the room alone is a dance of eroticism. The raw animalism, the vulnerability of the actors themselves stunned me. This all peaks in the phone call to the agent from the train: the killer explains the heat of his attraction to the agent. For the first time the agent hears the killer's true voice. She first sees him unmasked in the elevator, but here, she hears him, his voice shimmering with intensity as he drops the veil of the life he was living and delights in confronting the agent with his bared soul. In contrast to the last scene in which we heard him speak as Costas, at the hospital, with passion and hope and love for the agent, it's riveting.

The last scene of the film mirrors the love scene in the hotel, but here we find that sex and death are enmeshed in the killer's psyche. This is where the actual brutality of the killer is seen in full, because we know the entire relationship between him and the agent--and waiting to see what he has in store for her is compelling. Played with exquisite subtlety by both Hawke and Jolie, it's an original in film, as memorable as the shower scene in "Psycho." Hawke's acting instincts are unpredictable, and you cannot wait to see what he will do next. He plays against expectations. The caress of his voice is menacing, each movement frightening in its stark minimalism, the mundane contrasted with the deadly: deftly disarming guns; pouring a cup of tea; a sweep of the hand across the tabletop; a bruising slap; a tender plea; a whispering strangulation. The killer's total domination and control of the agent illustrate his skill and erotic pleasure in killing. The real mystery then is what is in the soul of such a human being.

As stunning as Jolie is in this role, this is Hawke's movie. He delivers a finely nuanced and complex character. Jolie's reserved agent is the means by which the killer's heart is revealed.

And for anyone who does not feel the heat between Jolie and Hawke...the movie will not work for you. That kind of sexual tension is dangerous, it's unpredictable, and that's why it drives this movie, ultimately. It comes from a place we cannot define, at a time we cannot predict, with someone whom we do not choose. It's visceral, primal, and it's the real pulse of this movie. If you have never made irrational, dangerous decisions based in just such a passion, you may not get the movie.

Angelina Jolie seems to be falling into the same hole as other actresses who have won Oscars recently; Mira Sorvino and Halle Berry come to mind. The roles/films she has chosen have simply not been very good, and 'Taking Lives' is a prime example. It is a gory, derivative mess of a film.

The plot is essentially 'a young man grows to adulthood murdering other men to adopt their lives'. He (Ethan Hawke) finds men who are serial wanderers (no pun intended) who conveniently have no friends or family - really - then murders them in a most vicious fashion. He then 'assumes' their identity until he fancies someone else. Apparently the Montreal, Quebec police are too incompetent to figure this out, so they need Jolie's FBI agent to essentially perform the investigation for them. The Jolie character then proceeds to fall in love with the 'witness' to one of the murders - another instance where the woman cannot be in a film without falling in love with someone. This blew the movie out of the water for me.

The story is a direct derivation of two films: 'Silence of the Lambs' (female FBI agent), and 'Seven' (dark, ugly sets, gore, and general feeling of depression), both of which were done far better than this film. It's not that hard to figure out that the Ethan Hawke character is the culprit within the first hour of the film, even though the scriptwriters try to throw curves at the viewer to heighten the 'suspense'.

The gore is extreme. There are faces smashed in with rocks, stabbings, beatings and decapitations, all depicted in graphic detail. There is also the obligatory morgue/autopsy scene (again clearly lifted from 'Lambs').

I cannot recommend this film; it is simply too derivative and stereotypical. It disrepects Angelina Jolie's FBI agent character by having her get romantically involved with a witness in a murder case (another cliche that already been done elsewhere). The extra feature sections then proceed to behave as if the film is a marvelously original creation. It is indeed unfortunate that such good actors as Ethan Hawke, Tcheky Karyo and Kiefer Sutherland are wasted in such a film...

Angelina Jole is an attractive lady, so sexy nude scenes of her are always welcome... BUT...I question why she would be willing to show flesh in a lame movie such as this.

Predictabilty is the first problem with this film.
No question por mystery who the killer is after the first 15 minutes.

Poor acting by Ethan Hawke.

A short cameo by Keifer Sutherland that was not needed and very, very brief.

All in all this looked and felt like a "Made for TV" movie except for the nudity and occasional graphic crime scene shots.
I am sure with some editing you will see this movie on LIFESTYLE: TELEVISION FOR WOMEN because it rapidly drops from being a "find the serial killer" movie into a romantic twist film..... seemed forced and unnatural.

The worst complaint......... THE SOUND MAN FOR THIS MOVIE SHOULD BE SHOT !!!!

I can't remember the last time I had to roller-coaster my volume control up and down non-stop thru the entire movie.
Dialogue scenes could barely be heard and action scenes overloaded the sound system..... I had to watch the movie with the TV volume remote in my hand and readjust volume from scene to scene.

OK there are so many things wrong with this DVD that I should not have given it more than 3 stars, BUT, just to be able to watch Jolie do her magic on the screen was enough to bring it over the top as far as enjoying this film ....


The fact that the writers managed to keep the viewer engaed as to who was killing Jolie's ex-lovers made the film interesting. OK it's not a Silence of the Lambs but then it is much lighter fare and still enjoyable.


Why they put in Kiefer Southerland in a brief cameo scene is beyond me. Maybe he was hanging around the set so long that they just wrote him in as a lark .... The sound is bad bad bad ... my goodness it's all over the place ...


So, if you don't expect a technical DVD marvel this is a great little story ...

If Anjelina Jolie in herself wasn't enough reason to see this movie how about the fact that this thriller was actually... a thriller! I have not seen a movie in years that made my jaw drop as many times as this movie did. I respect that blood and gore wasn't overdone, you only saw what you needed to see and what you saw was enough. The brilliant writer tricks you so many times that you will be surprised at who the killer is and surprised at how wrong your guess was. I have seen some of the most sick and twisted horror flicks out there and they all follow some sort of guidelines that enable you to predict or at least expect whats going to happen next. This movie is an acception and definitly worth the trip. Taking Lives is officially on my 'to own list'.

Taking lives starts out pretty good.. you get to see how the killer started out with this insane act and it gets you intrigued to begin. However, the exact second they shoot you into the present time, you know who is causing all the "taking lives" chaos! The movie had a certain amount of potential to give you a nudge off your seat but unfortunately they didn't get far enough to even attempt!! This was not anywhere near as suspenseful and exciting as I had hoped!! Don't waste your time viewing Taking Lives, it's a bomb!!

Most of the other reviews are exactly right. The quotes on the case
for the video promise that you'll never guess what will happen next.
False! Most of the plot is very predictable and obvious. Sutherland
is barely in the movie at all in spite of his star billing. Jolie's character
is weird and oddly motivated. Ethan Hawkes acting is awful. On top
of that, please explain to me why an American FBI agent is helping
out on a CANADIAN case anyway? Plus the sound volume does roller-coaster
up and down. Bad movie. I'm sorry I rented this.

This film tries really hard to be great. There are many ideas stolen from "Seven" (a far superior film) and there are some well-staged action sequences and a fairly decent twist at the end. Ethan Hawke is good in more than a few scenes and, considering we are to believe Angelina Jolie is some kind of eccentric super agent with highly tuned perception, she has her moments, as well. Not to mention, there are many close-ups of her gorgeous eyes...which couldn't hurt any film. The problem with this film is predictability, as is the case with most psycho-thriller yarns. The killer is obviously one of two characters, with an accented lean toward the more intelligent character who may or may not have a screw loose. About halfway through the film, however, one of these characters dies and the only mystery left is "When is this film going to end?" This isn't a bad addition to the genre, but it does fall woefully short of greatness on virtually every level.