Taking Lives (film)

[Tina Larzelere]

Wherewould we be without The Silence Of The Lambs? Certainly minus a zillion serial-killer pics, that's for sure. Ashley Judd wouldn't have a career. And Angelina Jolie would perhaps spend more of her time in movies worthy of her considerable talents, instead of getting bogged down in slick-but-derivative psycho-chillers like The Bone Collector and Taking Lives.

It starts off promisingly enough, a 1983-set prologue (two kids, a truck, a nasty death) piquing curiosity before the action jumps to present-day Montreal. The setup, characters and scenarios are strictly standard - - Detective Paquette (Olivier Martinez) is seriously miffed when Jolie's FBI profiler takes over his investigation; she turns out to be a loner, self-contained and (surprise!) obsessed - - but the intrigue is undeniable. Especially when Ethan Hawke's art dealer arrives on the scene, wearing a string of red herrings around his neck. Okay, so this is-he-the-killer-or-isn't-he? routine is an old one, but it works - - right up to the very end.

Add some polished editing, a classy Philip Glass score that, for once, isn't too intrusive and some solid performances (Hawke is especially good), and you have the makings of a gripping thriller. Then things begin to unravel. Slowly at first, but faster and faster as we approach the ludicrous finale.

For starters, Jolie's super-professional FBI agent begins to fall for her prime suspect. Or, as she puts it in her jargon-heavy way:" "I might be having a reaction to the witness"." Next up, we get Kiefer Sutherland popping up as Possible Killer No2, just to keep us guessing. (Mind you, his 24 schedule was obviously tough cos he's only got time to show his face two or three times.) And finally this most manipulative of movies ends with the most manipulative of climaxes, Jolie going to the kind of deserted farmhouse that people only go to in films. Yawn.

And yawn again, because the clichs don't end there. Endless driving rain? That'll be Se7en. Frantic car chase? Take your pick, starting with The French Connection. A pursuit through the Montreal Jazz Festival, all banging drums and piercing horns? Try Double Jeopardy.

Getting progressively worse as it goes on, Taking Lives has only two ideas of real note. One, that the serial killer adopts his victims' identities, literally taking their lives (""He's like a hermit crab"," ventures Jolie's impossibly intuitive special agent. ""He outgrows one shell and then he's looking for the next one""). And two, at its heart lies a neat gender reversal, Hawke's weakling being the one who needs protecting, Jolie's tough cookie purposefully doing the rough stuff.

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This serial killer has been taking lives (look at that) since he was younger. Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood, My Dreams) does an incredible job in the scene where he figures out this is what he wants to do and kills the first guy whose identity he takes, with a dropkick into oncoming traffic.

A serial killer expert is working a particularly difficult case, using the type of unconventional methods that evoke funny looks from other cops. The expert develops a bond with the killer (because every serial killer expert has an unexplained sixth sense about these sort of things) that will ultimately bring him or her into a one-on-one confrontation with the killer.

"Taking Lives" is the 15th or 20th film to use this exact same plot outline. It isn't the worst catch-the-serial-killer movie, but after watching the same story so many times, a critic starts to lose his patience.

Angelina Jolie stars as the so-called expert. When the local French Canadian police first meet her, she is lying in a grave, on the coffin of a victim. Why she does this is never stated, but we are supposed to assume it gives her insight into the mind of the killer. Somehow.

Using the lightning-quick wit that could only come from the pen of a Hollywood writer who knows nothing of police work or serial killing, Jolie eventually intuits the killer is "taking lives." He doesn't just kill people; he kills them, assumes their identities and lives their lives until he finds another victim.

He has been doing this for 20 years or so, but finally the madman has made a mistake, leaving behind a witness. Fortunately, said witness (played so poorly by Ethan Hawke that one must assume he was blackmailed) is an artist and can draw a sketch of the killer. Unfortunately, he's not a very good artist, and his sketch doesn't help.

Jolie uses Hawke as bait to lure the killer into the open. At the same time, the two of them start to fall in love - at least, I think that's what happens. Both actors are so unconvincing, so entirely false and unsympathetic, the mutual attraction is only stated and never truly felt.

Anyway, everything comes clanking to a lame climax that will disappoint even those of us with the lowest of standards. Take it from a guy who has seen every single "Friday the 13th" movie more than once: This is a bad movie.

Part of its excruciating terribleness derives from its shockingly bad construction. That is to say, not only did I identify the killer the first time he or she is on screen, but I identified the killer the first time I saw an advertisement for "Taking Lives." Obviously I'm no genius (see previous "Friday the 13th" confession), but I can spot poor writing and final twists that are painfully, agonizingly obvious.

While I'm on the subject of moronic serial killer experts who would be stumped by a game of Clue, I would be remiss if I didn't mention "The Watcher." Here is a film so staggeringly miscast it should be up for some sort of Worst Casting Ever award.

James Spader is the expert this time around. That's right, our hero is the creepy, vaguely sociopathic Spader (a very good actor, but not exactly warm and cuddly). The killer is Keanu Reeves, the man who popularized the expression "whoa."

But I must admit, even as hokey and trite as "The Watcher" is, it still attempts to tell a story. A stupid one, but a story nonetheless. The same cannot be said for "Eye of the Beholder," which seems like it's telling a story, meanders through two hours of monotonous dreck and then ends abruptly - sneaking out on the viewer like a diner patron running out on a check.

Ewan McGregor is the cop this time around, stalking serial killer Ashley Judd. Judd kills men who flirt with her, and McGregor, having seen her murder in cold blood, inexplicably falls in love with her and serves as her guardian angel. At first, the premise seems intriguing; you see, McGregor is apparently insane himself, talking to an imaginary friend during his stakeouts.

But, alas, halfway through the picture the imaginary friend disappears, and McGregor is revealed to just be an obsessive stalker with horrible taste in women. He follows her, watches her, eventually kills for her; but no solid motivation or convincing character development ever surfaces.

A serial killer thriller that has grown in cult status over the years, we've been fans of Taking Lives for some time. Therefore it was perfect for this selection of a film critics might not appreciate, but we find to be a pretty good movie. And joining us to discuss a wealth of behind-the-scenes info, as well as his research into FBI profiling, serial killers, and how Illeana Scott connects to Liz Keen in The Blacklist, is the screenwriter of Taking Lives AND the creator of The Blacklist, Jon Bokenkamp!

FBI Profiler Illeana Scott (Angelina Jolie) has been called in to help hunt down an elusive serial killer known for taking the lives of his victims. When a witness to an attack arrives in James Costa (Ethan Hawke), Illeana finds herself caught up in a desperate game to stop the killer before he claims yet another victim. Or herself.

A serial killer thriller that has grown in cult status over the years, we've been fans of the film for some time. Therefore it was perfect for this selection of a film critics might not appreciate, but we find to be a pretty good movie. And joining us to discuss a wealth of behind-the-scenes info, as well as his research into FBI profiling, serial killers, and how Illeana Scott connects to Liz Keen in The Blacklist, is the screenwriter of Taking Lives AND the creator of The Blacklist, Jon Bokenkamp!

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