Taking Lives Review
by Joe Lopez (Joemovie AT aol DOT com)March 22nd, 2004
Taking Lives
**1/2 (out of four)
Review by Joseph Lopez
Cinematic roller coaster.
That's the only way to effectively describe the theatrical experience that is "Taking Lives". In my twenty-odd years of existence, I've sat through countless movies and always, without fail, have been able to formulate a surefire gut-based feeling on the film by the time the old fade to black came about. So naturally it was a little surprising when at the end of Taking Lives, as the theater lights went up and the end credits rolled down, I simply couldn't decide whether the movie was good or not. There I sat, scratching my five o'clock shadow covered chin, just trying to figure out if the past two hours had been enjoyable. There were times during the movie that caused my eyes to light up with excitement, thinking how clever certain elements of the movie really were. At other moments, my eyes rolled with displeasure, noticing how over-the-top some scenes were. Every five minutes my take on the film would change, from wow this is amazing to please give me a break, and back again. And in the end I sat there, just trying to paste it all together. Did I like Taking Lives? To be honest, I have no idea.
Angelina Jolie stars as an FBI Agent searching for a serial killer who assumes the lives of his victims once he's, you know, gotten rid of them. A sudden break in tracking the fiend comes as a witness to his latest murder steps up to help the cops. Said witness, played here by Ethan Hawke, suddenly finds himself as the potential next target for the killer. Jolie connects with Hawke, developing an odd little love affair that she knows shouldn't exist, but simply can't ignore.
The acting is top notch by the entire cast here, especially Angelina Jolie. She creates quite the complex character, a clear outsider who overly obsesses over her job, to the point where it stops being work and starts being a good-time hobby. We watch as she hangs gory crime scene photos over her bed, eats while sitting across from the same bloody pictures, and lies in the grave where one of the bodies was found. As strange as Jolie's character seems to be on the surface, she is a woman at heart. The romantic relationship that develops between Jolie and Ethan Hawke's character makes this obvious. She may have a strange interest in death, but like any other breathing human being, it's love her empty heart is searching for. Johnny Depp has become famous for bringing life to some of the quirkiest characters in film today, and in many ways Jolie is becoming the female counterpart to Depp. Even when the movie overall isn't that great, Angelina delivers a performance that instantly makes it a must see film.
Not to ignore the rest of the cast here, Oliver Martinez is great as the brass detective who dislikes the female FBI agent being brought in on his case. Ethan Hawke is terrific as the smitten eyewitness. And then there's Kiefer Sutherland, who spends about five minutes on screen, but is perfectly used in that short time period.
The plot has some moments that come really close to breaking the rules of this cliché-ridden genre, but not close enough. With a little more work, Taking Lives could have been up to par with a classic film like "The Silence Of The Lambs". Instead, the time is spent setting up the story, which is really no more complicated then anything else we've seen before. When the film really starts to get interesting, it's already more then halfway through the advertised running time, assuring an all too disappointing rush to the finish. Speaking of the ending, without giving anything away, I will say that the conclusion came across as laughable and utterly unbelievable.
Director D.J. Caruso does a great job of capturing what can only be described as a Hitchcockian feel to the film. The frantic camera work, well built underlying human story, and amazingly perfect musical score all add up to create something that Alfred himself could have made.
Did I like Taking Lives? Even now I'm still not sure. There are definitely elements that made this a strong picture, but it seems like those points were only introduced, instead of being fully developed. Perhaps what was really missing here was a little thing called focus. Had the film focused in on those unique elements, instead of working so hard on the standard stuff, this could have been a downright excellent film. The potential is there. But it's never fulfilled.
-Joe Lopez
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