Taking Lives | | Cast : | Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland | | Director : | D.J. Caruso | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | March 19, 2004 | | DVD Released Date : | February 08, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | Unrated | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 23, 2005 | | Summary | Starts Out Strong ......Then Drifts off into Absurdity | Content
 | The first two-thirds of this movie will definitely entertain and engage you. The setting is Canada, moody and atmospheric, a pleasant change from the 2 or 3 U.S. cities that seem to host every serial killer extravaganza ever filmed...and the French accents and beautiful background scenery add a nice dimension to the story.
Besides her obvious attributes, which are amply displayed in the Director's Cut version, Angelina Jolie is an excellent actress. Her eyes alone can convey a multitude of emotions, a fact not lost on the Director (D. J. Caruso), who uses them to great advantage. Watch her closely in the scene where Ethan Hawke is being taped with a transmitter...a hundred words are spoken, but not verbally.
Alas, however, the concluding scenes are just not up to this quality. It is a rare (and often classic) movie that can sustain a high level of suspense and intrigue throughout, and this one falls short. An event occurs in the mother's basement that is just too coincidental and preposterous to be credible (an homage to "Carrie"?).
Keiffer Sutherland is utilized in the "Recognizable Actor" ploy (which dictates: the most recognizable actor appearing in the supporting cast of a mystery is always the culprit).
The primary climax is forseeable by virtually any experienced mystery movie viewer, and the secondary climax is a "tacked on", contrived bit of nonsense...if the killer were as shrewd and perceptive as portrayed, he would not have been fooled.
Criticism aside, the bulk of this movie is definitely worth seeing....especially for Angelina fans (who will get more than they bargained for). |
| Rating | | | Date | June 22, 2005 | | Summary | Superb murder/mystery... | Content
| When watching the previews for this movie I didn't think that this movie would be all that great. The marketing for this movie seemed to give away any surprises that could possibly be in this movie. It appeared that the villain was going to be Keifer Sutherland (no surprise there), Angelina would team up with Ethan Hawke and solve the crime (maybe get a it on a little bit, no big surprise there either), and then the movie would end and the audience would be left feeling like "been there, seen that". However, this movie is thoroughly entertaining, and has plenty of twists to keep you wondering just what exactly is going on.
I can't tell you much about this movie without ruining some plot points, but I can give a semi-rough outline of the film. The basic premise of Taking Lives is that someone is murdering people and then leaving a corpse that cannot be easily identified, then steals their I.D. and any credit cards or whatever, and assumes their identity. So to solve the crime, the authorities bring in a forensics expert (played by Angelina Jolie, who is one of the sexiest women in Hollywood and looks spectacular in this movie) to solve the crime.
The movie is an excellent thrill ride that surpasses expectations. A great story, that is wonderfully acted by all of the stars. Keifer Sutherland and Ethan Hawke are great in their supporting roles, giving depth and credibility to their respective roles. Ethan plays an artist, which he fits the look perfectly and Keifer is a suspicious art dealer, and Keifer always does great with shifty characters.
Basically, if you're in the mood for a great thrill ride, then Taking Lives is the movie for you, I recommend the unrated version, simply because it's a personal preference of mine that anytime a movie has an unrated version, then that's the one to see, because you are seeing the movie as it was intended to be.
Taking Lives: Unrated contains violence, language, grisly images, and sexuality/nudity. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 16, 2005 | | Summary | Wasted effort... | Content
| I love thrillers. Seven remains one of my favourite movies of all time. Perhaps with that movie in mind, it raised the bar of how thrillers should be, making me feel very unsatisfied with this movie.
Ileana Scott (Angelina Jolie) is a crime expert for the FBI. She is called to Montreal by the captain because a recent murder follows a pattern of serial killing that Scott was investigating, of course this does not sit well with the local detectives already on the case. Meanwhile, James Costa (Ethan Hawke) is the witness of the last murder and Scott believes that the killer is after him next. Throw in an old creepy lady, believed to be the murderer's mom, a love scene and some very predictable plot twists...and we have "Taking Lives".
Like many of the reviewers here mentioned, the movie started very well. It set the tone for the rest of the movie, unfortunately it just spirals downhill from there. Jolie is a good actress but there was nothing special about Agent Scott, never once did I believe she's an expert in criminology. Yeah, so she lies down in dirt and pastes murder pictures around her apartment. She struck me more of a sicko than someone dedicated to her job. Ethan Hawke plays James Costa pretty well, basically because nothing much is required from that character. Kiefer Sutherland, who I feel is one of Hollywood's greatest actors, is underused here. I wonder what made him do this movie in the first place. Maybe he lost a bet with the director or something.
Ultimately, even with the talent they roped in...it could not save the movie because of it's predictability and lack of excitement. Most movies that I find good, I credit the writers first because that's the backbone of any movie, especially movies like this. This movie was alright, but nothing to shout about. Personally, I wouldn't waste money buying it...it might make a good renter though. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 01, 2005 | | Summary | Maybe the directors cut made more sense. | Content
| We watched the fullscreen version of this flick and I found it tedious and unbelievable (for the genre, anyway). The first few minutes were very creepy, but once the story went to Montreal, that atmosphere vanished. I thought the Angelina Jolie character lacked any spark and Ethan Hawke wasn't much better. The ending made even less sense than the rest of the film, but I could have dozed through a scene or two and missed something. Like I said in the title, perhaps the directors cut was a better film. I doubt it though. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 29, 2005 | | Summary | Taking Lives (2004) | Content
| In 2004, director, D.J. Caruso, had brought us one hell of a suspenseful thriller entitled, TAKING LIVES, starring Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland, and the beautiful, Angelina Jolie.
ILLEANA (played by Angelina Jolie) is an FBI agent, located in Montreal, working on a serial killer case, where a mysterious serial killer murders people and then steals their identities. Her unique skills is used to the vexing case of this unknown murderer. COSTA (played by Ethan Hawke) is the killer's next alleged victim. Illeana's only suspect is CHRISTOPHER HART (played by Kiefer Sutherland). But her suspicions of Christopher are proven wrong when Costa takes Chris into a car and drives onto a bridge, where an accident occurs and Christopher is found dead. Illeana must do all she can to find this brutal and relentless killer before it is too late.
I was a little disappointed in this film. I was hoping for a lot more horror and suspense, not to mention action. I was also disappointed in the fact that my hero, my idol, Kiefer Sutherland, who was innocent all along, was killed in this movie; well his character was, but I was still disappointed that. But the movie was very interesting, indeed, with an ending that will leave you in a severly high-state of panic. |
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