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Angelina Jolie; Picture & Information Gallery |
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Taking Lives
(2004) |
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Starring
: |
Angelina
Jolie,
Ethan
Hawke,
Kiefer
Sutherland,
Olivier
Martinez,
Gena
Rowlands |
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Director
: |
D.J.
Caruso |
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Producer
: |
Mark
Canton,
Bernie
Goldmann,
David
Hetman |
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ScreenWriter
: |
Jon
Bokenkamp,
Michael
Pye |
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Cinematographer
: |
Amir
Mokri |
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Executive
Producer
: |
Bruce
Berman,
David
Heyman |
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Source
Writer
:
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Michael
Pye |
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Illeana
Scott (Angelina Jolie) is an FBI profiler who immerses herself
in her cases. She eats alone in an elegant hotel room, staring
at photos of crime scenes and corpses. When construction
equipment uncovers a dead body, she lies down in the muddy pit
where and closes her eyes. She lies down on top of a bed that
might have been the murderer's, to see what he saw.
Scott has
been brought in by the Canadian police to help them solve a
murder. It turns out to be linked to other murders, probably the
work of a man who kills men his age and size and then takes over
their lives until it is time to move on to the next, "like a
hermit crab -- he outgrows one body and starts looking for a new
one."
The only
witness
is Costa
(Ethan
Hawke),
an
artist
preparing
for a
big
show.
Illeana
is not
sure
whether
to trust
him,
arrest
him, or
fall for
him. But
is what
draws
her to
him the
part of
her that
understands
killers?
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Jolie's
character is inconsistently conceived, forcing her to take on
almost as many personalities as the killer, cool professional,
tomboy feminist, girlish romantic, and nesting loner. She has to
be tough and vulnerable as the whims of the script demand, and
that takes some of the steam out of the story. But director D.J.
Caruso and a strong cast make the best of the potboiler
material, creating a nicely creepy atmosphere and knowing when
to surprise the audience with a shock -- or a laugh -- to
release the tension. So if you don't try to make it all make
sense, you might find it to be a thriller with a couple of
genuine thrills. And you can be relieved that at least this one
doesn't star Ashley Judd.
Parents
should know that this is an R-rated thriller with intense and
graphic violence. There are graphic injuries and grisly dead
bodies, including some decomposed and one badly burned, plus a
severed finger and a bloody wound. There are many tense scenes
with characters in peril and one (apparently) especially
horrific injury. Characters drink, smoke, and use strong
language. There are sexual references and a sexual situation
including nudity.
Families
who see this movie should talk about what a profiler of serial
killers might have in common with the killers to be profiled, a
theme also explored in the Hannibal Lecter books by Thomas
Harris. Families might want to take a look at the FBI's website,
which has a lot of information about their investigations,
programs, and employment opportunities.
Families who
enjoy this movie will also enjoy the multi-Oscar-winning Silence
of the Lambs and the underrated first Hannibal Lecter movie,
Manhunter. They will also enjoy Jagged Edge with Glenn Close as
a defense attorney who is drawn to her charming client even
though he is charged with murdering his wife, and Copycat with
Sigourney Weaver as a profiler stalked by a killer. And they
should see Hitchcock's great classic of the "should I trust the
man I am attracted to" genre, Suspicion, with Oscar-winner Joan
Fontaine wondering whether new husband Cary Grant wants to kill
her with that glass of milk.
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