Taking Lives Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)March 25th, 2004
Planet Sick-Boy: http://www.sick-boy.com
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I can envision the gears turning in Hollywood following the success of The Talented Mr. Ripley: "Get me a cheap-o script about a serial killer who assumes the identities of the people he murders - STAT!" That about all you get with Taking Lives, unless you like staring at Angelina Jolie (and my shrink says there's nothing wrong if you do). Seriously though, how hard can it be for a drop-dead gorgeous Oscar-winning actress to hook up with a good script and director? Jolie's projects aren't much better than J.Lo's. And how Ashley Judd failed to pounce on this script, I'll never know.
If you're one of those people who actually show up on time for movies, you might think you've stepped into the wrong auditorium, as Lives' opening scene (which has been aired on cable television in advance of its theatrical release) doesn't seem like it has anything to do with the same movie you may have seen advertised. This prologue shows Our Killer in his younger years (played by The Girl Next Door's Paul Dano) before we're hurtled 20 years forward into present-day Montreal, home of a recent killing suspicious enough for the chief (Tchéky Karyo, The Core) to enlist the help of an old FBI pal named Illeana Scott (Jolie, Beyond Borders).
Illeana is one of those crime-solvers who thinks outside the box, which does little to endear her with the Montreal stiff patrol regulars (including SWAT's Olivier Martinez). What follows is a decent but clichéd take on Se7en, right down to the "Will someone flip the goddamn light switch? I'm investigating a murder, for chrissakes" scenes. At one point, Illeana actually turns into Frank Bullitt, but Lives remains relatively tension-free for most of its running time. It's slow, then dumb, then slow again. Then there's the nudity, and...oh, I forget. Did it get slow or dumb after that?
Lives did make me jump out of my skin once (and from a scene shown in the trailer, no less), and its ending is kind of fun despite being relatively easy to finger the identity of the killer. But there's nothing of interest here, unless you're obsessed with serial killers or big, juicy lips.
1:43 - R for strong violence including disturbing images, language and some sexuality
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