Nosedive it does, abandoning all pretense of style and eccentricity for at-times laughable predictability.
Taking Lives (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:152
Fresh:35
Rotten:117
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: A stylish, but predictable thriller where the only thrills are offered by the sensuous Angelina Jolie.
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: A top FBI profiler, Special Agent Illeana Scott (Academy Award-winner ANGELINA JOLIE) doesn't rely on traditional crime-solving techniques to unravel the mysteries of a murderous mind. Her... A top FBI profiler, Special Agent Illeana Scott (Academy Award-winner ANGELINA JOLIE) doesn't rely on traditional crime-solving techniques to unravel the mysteries of a murderous mind. Her intuitive, unconventional approach is often the only way to unlock the identities of the killers for the police to capture. When Montreal detectives handling a local homicide investigation reluctantly ask for an outsider's help to get inside the head of a cunning serial killer, Agent Scott joins the case. With meticulous insight, she theorizes that the chameleon-like killer is "life-jacking" - assuming the lives and identities of his victims. As the pressure mounts to catch the elusive murderer, Agent Scott's unorthodox methods alienate her from a territorial police team that feels threatened by her uncanny abilities. Her seemingly cold demeanor belies an unparalleled passion for her work, and she's at her best when she's working alone. But when an unexpected attraction sparks a complicated romantic entanglement, the consummate specialist begins to doubt her finely honed instincts. Alone in an unfamiliar city with no one she can trust, Agent Scott suddenly finds herself on a twisted and terrifying journey, surrounded by suspects in a case that has become chillingly personal. [More]
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland, Olivier Martinez
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland, Olivier Martinez, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Tcheky Karyo, Gena Rowlands
Director: D.J. Caruso
Director: D.J. Caruso
Screenwriter: Jon Bokenkamp
Producer: Mark Canton, Bernie Goldmann
Composer: Philip Glass
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Taking Lives
This multiple-twist thriller gets off to a fine, creepy start but eventually becomes too preposterous for its own good.
While not breaking any new ground, director D.J. Caruso's movie also doesn't disappoint.
Caruso is a much more resourceful director than this material deserves, but I resented being two steps ahead of the genius profiler and the genius serial-killer.
To buy this picture, you have to buy Jolie's character, and the actress succeeds much of the time. But once her contained, job-obsessed agent gets involved with a man close to her case, much of what came before is negated.
Taking Lives is a good, near-great film that might seem a lot better if it hadn't been preceded by all of those Judd vehicles -- or if Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling never existed.
Taking Lives is a swell-looking movie with lavish production values and not a single original idea, not a single surprise.
What the movie accomplishes in misogyny, it nearly equals in lack of imagination.
While it's not in a league with The Silence of the Lambs, it works in a similarly efficient way.
Really awful lady-cop- chasing-psycho- killer picture with dumb twists and dull dialogue aplenty.
Just as the central criminal steals the identity of his victims, Taking Lives lifts traits and style from other movies. Both do so relatively successfully, until they bungle the job in the final half-hour.
Taking Lives is smarter than your average serial-killer movie, thanks to unusually fleshed-out characters inhabited by a high- pedigree cast.
Screenwriter Jon Bokenkamp litters the trajectory with more red herrings than the traffic can bear in less than two hours.
Even with Angelina Jolie thrown in for forensic sex appeal, this dog won't hunt.
The first nine minutes of Taking Lives are, in fact, compelling and good ... Sadly, the rest of Taking Lives is not worth paying for.
Latest News for Taking Lives
June 07, 2007:
Has Fox Chosen a "Wolverine" Director?
According to one source, the studio has the "Wolverine" director's job down to a lead candidate ... and a backup choice. More...
March 13, 2006:
Shia LaBeouf Will Star In DreamWorks' "Disturbia"
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Shia LaBeouf ("The Greatest Game Ever Played") will star in DreamWorks' new thriller, "Disturbia," which will be that studio's... More...
April 14, 2005:
Actors Sign Up for a Taste of "Blood and Chocolate"
Annette Curtis Klause's "Blood and Chocolate" is being adapted for the big screen, courtesy of MGM/Sony. The Hollywood Reporter says its "about a teenage werewolf... More...
March 08, 2004:
Director D.J. Caruso (The Salton Sea) shows promise. But when’s the last time Jolie starred in a really good movie? ![]()
More...
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