Taking Lives

views updated

Taking Lives ★★ 2004 (R)

Illeana Scott (Jolie), a sexy FBI profiler with an affinity for the macabre, is called in by the Montreal police to use her “special” skills to track down a serial killer who assumes the identity of his victims. Since the heroine cannot be without a love interest, along comes art gallery owner James Costa (Hawke) who, naturally, is a witness…no, wait, he's a suspect…oh, now he's a target. Keep your scorecards handy, folks. Caruso strives to craftily overwhelm his audience with loads of gruesome gore, and perhaps if the plot weren't as mangled as the victims it would have succeeded. Sutherland does little more than play the convenient scapegoat while Rowlands masters the role of the alleged slayer's surly mother. Adapted from Michael Pye's novel where, interestingly, Jolie's character didn't exist. 103m/C VHS, DVD . US Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland, Gena Rowlands, Olivier Martinez, Tcheky Karyo, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Paul Franklin Dano, Justin Chatwin; D: D.J. Caruso; W: Jon Bokenkamp; C: Amir M. Mokri; M: Philip Glass.