Taking Lives (2004)

An FBI profiler is called in by French Canadian police to catch a serial killer who takes on the identity of each new victim.

Director:

D.J. Caruso

Writers:

Michael Pye (novel), Jon Bokenkamp (screen story),

Stars:

Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

The film starts in the early 1980s. Young Martin Asher took a bus for Canada. He meets another teen on the bus Matt Soulsby. When the bus broke they decided to rent a car and drive to Seattle. On the road the car gets a flat tire, and Matt starts changing the tire Martin comments on how he and Matt are about the same height and he quickly pushes Matt in the way of an oncoming truck causing a huge accident where Matt and the driver both die. He took Matt's guitar and left singing like Matt did. Twenty years later, an FBI profiler, Illeana Scott comes to Canada to help hunting down a serial killer Martin Asher who killed multiple men and lived by their identities. Martin's mother claims that she saw Martin in Quebec city and she tells the police that Martin is evil. The police also has an eyewitness James Costa who saw Asher kill his last victim...

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | fbi profiler | canadian | flat tire | french | 

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Taglines:

He Would Kill To Be You.

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence including disturbing images, language and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [fr] Warner Bros.

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English French

Release Date:

19 March 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Elude võtmine

Filming Locations:

Chemin du Lac, Knowlton's Landing, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$32,378 (Norway) (30 April 2004)

Gross:

$32,682,342 (USA) (28 May 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Village Roadshow Pictures, Atmosphere Entertainment MM

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 109 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A scene was shot in which Angelina drives back to her house with the old pick-up and a branch from a tree falls and breaks the windshield. It took several takes to get the shot, and apparently destroyed the last remaining windshields for the pick-up available anywhere in North America at the time. The scene was not used.

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Goofs

When Costa is waiting for Hart in the bar, the bartender offers a refill and Costa is holding his empty glass (with ice in it). In the next shot, his glass is back on the bar and is full.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Cashier: Where are you going?

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Connections

Referenced in Le couperet (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Asomate A La Ventana"
Written by Jesus A. Perez
Performed by Sandra & The Latin Groove

User Reviews

Creepy, sinister and moody. But SE7EN it ain't...

Despite my love of Angelina Jolie, I must say that Taking Lives wasted a lot of good opportunity.

Given that they invented an entirely new lead character, we can't really compare this to the book, so let's look at it as a movie of it's own right.

Jolie plays Illeana Scott, a somewhat strange FBI agent who is called up to Canada to investigate the grisly murders of several young men, all whom have had their identities stolen by the killer. New to the scene is witness James Costa, Ethan Hawke, who soon grows to have an attachment to Scott.

At turns formulaic and down right rip off (the credits are far too similar to be called a homage to SE7EN), Taking Lives is a very enjoyable piece of work.

Beautifully shot, the film wallows in its moods. It knows that it can be creepy, but it wears it out on its sleeves.

Angelina is on top form as Scott, although its a shame that the movie does stoop to the need for quick-sex-scene-with-unnecessary-titty-shot.

Ethan Hawke is bearable as Costa, although he and Jolie have very little chemistry.

Other players, Olivier Martinez, Gena Rowlands, Tcheky Karyo and Jean Hughes-Angalade are also quite good.

The film does have its highs: excellent cinematography, creepy sinister mood, two fantastic adrenaline-jump moments that I never saw coming. But it also has one FATAL flaw, and that is that anyone who has seen any piece of film or television before will be able to guess who the killer is. Still, a fun movie nevertheless.

7/10 If you get the chance to see it in the cinema, watch people's reactions to the 'scissors-scene'. I was amazed to see hoe genuinely horrified even the most hardened viewers in my cinema were.