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:

Robando vidas

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

The source novel's character equivalent to Illeana is James Costa, a British museum curator. Martin Asher's analog is Martin Arkenhout, a native of Holland. The prime settings of the novel are England and Portugal.

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Goofs

On the way to Mont Laurier from St-Jovite, Matt tells Martin that he's going to Seattle. Matt would have had to go towards Montreal in order to go to Seattle by bus - Mont Laurier is in the opposite direction

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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

Referenced in 'Hellboy': The Seeds of Creation (2004)

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Soundtracks

1919 Rag
Performed by Bay City Jazz Band
Courtesy of Delmark Records

User Reviews

Entertaining, But Too Easy To Solve

This was a so-so serial killer movie with good and bad marks. The good marks were mainly for keeping the viewer's interest. You don't fall asleep watching this film. Angeline Jolie looks as good as I've ever seen her, facially and figure-wise.

The film loses marks for an easy-to-solve story, some credibility gaps especially later in the movie and too small a part for Keifer Sutherland to get third billing. He has a very short role in here, hardly worth billing which was a bit disappointing.

Also, the French accents by Jean-Hgues Anglade and Tcheky Karyo were hard for me to understand, forcing me to put on the English subtitles.