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

4 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 down 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 in that moment 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 hunt down the now 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 | female agent | fake identity | passionate sex | stolen identity | 

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Taglines:

He Would Kill To Be You.

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Genres:

Crime | 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 [France] Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

19 March 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Taking Lives

Filming Locations:

Gare Windsor, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,458,465, 21 March 2004

Gross USA:

$32,682,342

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$65,470,529

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 Illeana 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

While the movie is set in Montreal, Quebec, several scenes were filmed in Quebec City some 150 miles north east from Montreal. The bridge scene and Le chateau Frontenac are in Quebec City not Montreal. A police uniform is one scene has the Quebec City insignia.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Cashier: Where are you going?

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Alternate Versions

Available in both its R-rated theatrical version (103 min.) and in an unrated director's cut (109 min.).

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Taking Lives/Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London/Secret Window (2004)

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Soundtracks

Inertia Creeps
Written by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall and Andrew Vowles
Performed by Massive Attack
Courtesy of Virgin Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Average but passable French-Canadian -American thriller with a great cast

This is an acceptable suspense movie full of intrigue , thrills , action , twists and turns . This film is made for Angelina Jolie , she is in each shot. She's beautiful, she plays rightly, she's wonderful .

Howewer , the other main character Ethan Hawke is regularly played , his performance is overdone and warped.

The support cast is featured by French actors : Oliver Martinez who's doing a American curriculum . Furthermore, Tcheky Karyo also has a broad career American ,generally in secondary roles.

Here is also Jean Hughes Anglade who only has French films , but giving a short acting , where he misinterprets a minor role.

Kiefer Sutherland, as always, plays a nasty ,wicked,and evil person. Will he be the killer? .

The picture is professionally directed by D.J. Caruso . He is a good craftsman whose films often have intense car crashes such as Disturbia (2007), and The Eagle eye (2008) and this Taking lives (2004) .

Rating : Acceptable, only for Jolie's fans.