Taking Lives
Taking Lives
R | 19 March 2004 (USA)
Taking Lives Trailers

Recruited to assist Montreal police in their desperate search for a serial killer who assumes the identities of his victims, FBI profiler Illeana Scott knows it's only a matter of time before the killer strikes again. Her most promising lead is a museum employee who might be the killer's only eyewitness.

Reviews
Uriah43

This movie essentially begins with an FBI agent by the name of "Illeana Scott" (Angelina Jolie) coming to Canada to help out in an unusual homicide which appears to be connected to several similar cases for almost 20 years. Although there is limited evidence available the case gets a major boost when a woman named "Ms. Asher" (Gena Rowlands) reports that she believes she saw her son "Martin Asher" (initially played by Paul Dano) who was dead and buried 19 years earlier. Upon exhuming the body they discover that it doesn't belong to Martin and so he now becomes a lead suspect. What they fail to fully appreciate, however, is his extraordinary ability to socially blend into his environment and cleverly cover his tracks—and this makes him even more dangerous and difficult to apprehend. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, although I am not a big fan of Angelina Jolie, I thought she performed rather well in this particular role and certainly didn't deserve a "Razzie" nomination. But then, I didn't think Halle Berry deserved it for her role as "Catwoman" that year either and this leads me to believe that the entire awards committee is possibly motivated more by personal considerations than anything substantive. But that's just my opinion. Regardless, this film had a decent combination of mystery and suspense which I enjoyed and because of that I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

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WhoThrewThatMonkey

"A serial killer is on the road, killing and taking over lives of his victims. Time is ticking down before he claims his next victim and identity"Right from the beginning, I liked this movie. The two actors who we're introduced to are Justin Chatwin and Paul Dano. Dano would go onto to play a role in the 2013 film Prisoners in a very similar role while Chatwin would go on to ruin my CHILDHOOD!!! Uhhhumm. Excuse me.The introduction to this movie lulls you into a sense of comfort but then violently shifts you into how a majority of the rest of the film will be played out. Starts with two great actors, great music and a real sense of out in the wilderness with no one around. The opening credits has a very Se7en feel to it and the introduction and some of the settings and dialogue that comes up in the first third of the film is very reminiscent to Silence of the Lambs.Basic premise of the movie is Asher (Dano) kills people he watches and stalks and assumes their identity. He keeps jumping from person to person trying to leave his former life behind. Angelina Jolie plays an FBI agent who is brought in to help profile and catch the killer. Ethan Hawke plays a character who is brought in for questioning after he witnesses someone being killed. After the first half hour/45 minutes, the movie begins to lose some of it's luster in my opinion with me. I understand that it needs to progress and the plot needs to advance but placing your number one witness in a club to lure out a potential serial killer isn't the best idea.The movie's false ending (Yeah, you read that right. If you haven't picked up on the twist yet, you're not paying attention) culminates with what appears to be the killer kidnapping Hawke's character and leading cops on a high speed chase which ends in a car accident where the killer dies. Everything seems like it is cleared up and Angelina Jolie falls for the victim. At the hospital, the killer's mother comes to verify the body but says the the dead person isn't her son. Hawke then murders his mother in an elevator and escapes. That's right, Ethan Hawke was the killer all along.The movie really ends with Jolie being kicked out of the FBI, pregnant with Hawke's babies and living on her own in Pennsylvania. Hawke tracks her down to rekindle their romance but ultimately decides to try to kill Jolie. He stabs her in the stomach but finds out that she really isn't pregnant when she removes the scissors and stabs him with them. She tells him that the past 7 months had all been a ploy to get him to come back out of hiding.I really liked the first half hour or so of this movie. As I said above, it felt gritty and dirty and something you could accept as the next chapter in the Hannibal saga. I really like FBI profiler and in depth agent movies like this, Red Dragon and Mindhunters where killers motives are questioned and they try to find out why it's happening but also find the killer at the same time.Something that is almost as good as that is Angelina Jolie. I never really thought of her as super sexy or anything but this movie has pushed me over to the other side. I have been missing out on her sex appeal and it was top notch in this movie. Thinking almost the entire movie "Man, she is super sexy" and "I'd definitely would want to get with her" we are actually paid off and she a nude scene with her around 1 hour and 11 minutes in (You're welcome!)What I didn't like was the ending. By about 40 minutes left, if you hadn't already figured out the ending for the most part, it is thrown right in your face. I didn't really like that they put a face on who you thought could be the killer. By casting Keifer Sutherland in a role where it looked like he was the killer and to do it so early in the movie cut out some of the intrigue. I loved not knowing who the killer could be. Asher took on so many identities he could be anyone. They even still played with this at the very end when the French Canadian Cop had that stick in his mouth and took it out seemingly to tie it in a fashion like Jolie found in Asher's mothers house.I felt like the ending should have been abrupt and left us shocked. Instead, it happened, then explained itself, then let that marinate and finally decided "Ok, now here's the payoff". In reality, we didn't need payoff. The Asher character was good because we 'didn't know' who it was and it could end up being anyone. He has for years been able to just slip in and out of lives without ever being caught and that's how I felt it should have ended. The actual ending is not bad and was even a good twist but in this movie, it didn't seem like it was needed.I'll say watch this movie if you're really into serial killer movies and like seeing their personality examined. Plus, you get boobs. Really hot and sexy boobs. Just saying.

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Ryan Camplin

This film is alright. It's nothing to rave about but at the same time I'm glad I watched it. Angeline Jolie is quite good in it, as is Ethan Hawke. There's nothing too amazing about it, there's a couple of alright twists here and there. You can probably see them coming though to be honest. There are some pretty exciting scenes, and without revealing too much, probably the best jump-scare I've ever experienced in any film. The soundtrack is pretty good, any film that opens with U2 then follows it up with The Clash is a winner in my eyes. Overall, a good thriller but pretty run of the mill. Worth a watch though if, like me, you are fascinated by all things serial killer and cat and mouse thrillers.

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Bene Cumb

This psychological thriller was marketed with the tag line "He would kill to be you"... Although the reasons and background were only briefly disclosed and most of the times is spent on revealing the "outcomes" of a serial killer. The main stars Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke are doing fine, but their performances are not among their best ones. Use of Kiefer Sutherland was strange - he is capable of filling the whole movie, not just appearing briefly on screen (he does this giftedly, though). Paul Dano is also worth mentioning, he has become on the most talented 20+ years old actors. The others have quite ordinary characters.Recommendable for killing time, but it is no Se7en or similar. Just another above-average serial killer chase with feelings involved; there are some twists and turns and an ending scene is unpredictable, but still.

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