Taking Lives

Plot Summary

The police in Montreal, Canada, are on the trail of a serial killer. Illeana Scott (Angelina Jolie), a FBI agent who specialises in profiling murderers, is called in to help the local police. They get a break when there is a witness to one of the murders. Illeana starts putting the pieces together and discovers that the killer is murdering young men to steal their identities. Like a hermit crab, the killer moves from one life to another.   

Review

Serial killers, and female profilers stepping on the toes of the local police might sound a little familiar.  In fact there isn't an awful lot of originality in this story. The movie seems to have all the murder/detective clichés going. In an attempt to add a few twists and to keep audiences guessing a lot of "red herrings" are thrown into the plot but these are a little obvious and audiences will have solved the case long before the police! The final twist at the end is just too far-fetched to be believable.

I don't know what FBI profilers should look like but Angelina Jolie doesn't seem to fit the bill. Perhaps she is too beautiful or maybe Jody Foster perfected the image as Agent Clarice Starling in Silence Of The Lambs.  Maybe it was simply because her character keep missing all the clues!

Olivier Martinez and Jean-Hughes Anglade play two Montreal policemen working on the case. Olivier Martinez character is a little cliché as the arrogant, sulky cop who doesn't like females messing up his cases!  Ethan Hawke plays John Costa, the witness to one of the murders.

The Bottom Line:  After a promising start it becomes predictable and clichéd.  If you enjoy Taking Lives you might also enjoy: Murder By Numbers,  Red Dragon,  Insomnia,  The Hunted.

Reviewed by Niall Quinn, Premier Movie Reviews 2004.

RELATED MOVIE REVIEWS:  ANGELINA JOLIE:  Girl Interrupted,  Gone in 60 Seconds,  Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,  Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life.  OLIVIER MARTINEZ:  S.W.A.T.,  Unfaithful.  KIEFER SUTHERLAND:  Phone Booth.

Genre: Detective murder thriller

Certificate: 18's

Director: D. J. Caruso

~ Main Cast ~

Angelina Jolie

Ethan Hawke

Olivier Martinez

Jean-Hughes Anglade

Gena Rowlands

Kiefer Sutherland

RATING

ONLY IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO