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>> TAKING LIVES (2004)

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Olivier Martinez and more ...
Director: D.J. Caruso
Genre: Thriller




i jumped once during "taking lives", at one of those cheap, cheesy "gotchas" that you've seen before but that still makes you feel simultaneously spooked and embarrassed. the nice philip glass score, however, almost made me feel as if the film's deliberate hitchcock references were more stylish than clumsy. it was a good pening thriller, an opening with a bang. then it flows with corny dialogues, and hard-to-swallow scenes, even when it was only fake.

in "taking lives", mutilated corpses are popping up all over montreal, and chief cop tchéky karyo calls for angelina jolie, a top FBI profiler from the good-old U.S of A. this annoys local homicide detectives jean-hughes anglade and olivier martinez, but jolie soon discovers that the killer they're hunting doesn't just kill his victims; he becomes them, appropriating their names and identities and moving on to a new chosen husk once every few years. it's very reminiscent of hitchcock's films or patricia highsmith's novels (the talented mr. ripley), and if "taking lives" had devoted itself to running with that retro feel, we might have had a different -- and probably better -- movie.

but pretty soon the elements click into familiar places, as witness ethan hawke gets too close to both the killer and the investigators and jolie has to prove herself to the locals just as they have to demonstrate their skills and dedication to her. there are substantial plot holes in "taking lives", too, but that only damages the film; what mortally wounds the film is underwritten reiterations of tired plot points and ideas that are enacted by thin, underwritten characters. we know Jolie will wind up romantically entangled with one of the other characters because that's how a movie like this goes. it's so fucking hollywood.

after being served up that plate of bland predictability, what we aren't given are the reasons for the romance other than the fact that it's what the two actors at the top of the cast list are supposed to do in a movie like this. likewise, the reason the killer remains in such proximity to his mother (gena rowlands), the one person who can recognize him, is left unsaid as well. there's no tension driving "taking lives", just the clatter of the projector as the frames flow one to the other and the scenes progress.

jolie portrays as FBI detective convincingly. maybe goes further to laying down on a burial ground to get the feel of how the victim died. her sexual appeals deliver as ethan hawke becomes sexually attracted to her. however, olivier martinez delivers such a corny lines (even in french) that i don't even think it's necessary to show. the director is trying to put the movie in a wiery hicthcock-like feel, but everything doesn't seem to fall right. although i must admit, the intensity is quite high, just to get dropped when a small unnecessary gestures were portrayed. things that i had to looked at the person next to me and raised an eyebrow and asked.. "did i just see what i think it is?" like too many thrillers, "taking lives" yearns to resemble prior landmark successes in the genre, forgetting that those prior successes triumphed mostly because they were unique.


>> rated by :: sLesTa | [ ]

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