TAKING LIVES

Taking Lives stars Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawkes, Kiefer Sutherland A psychological thriller from director D.J. Caruso.

Jolie plays an FBI Profiler named Illeana Scott whose involved in a cat and mouse thriller as she pursues an elusive serial killer, played by Ethan Hawke. For 20 years the killer has assumed his victims identities. But after a break in the case she becomes closer to the killer than she could possibly imagine.

Angelina Jolie is a decent actress in about anything she does which is more bad films than good. In Hollywood she's a bit overrated but has starred in such films as Hackers, Gone in 60 Seconds (and the film was too), and The Adventures of Laura Croft. None of these films turned out to be block buster movies as expected.

Taking Lives has an interesting opening and goes downhill from there. I was rather bored with the flow of the story, the background music and the dialogue. I never saw the theatrical release, but the unrated directors cut has to have been better. 

The Material the actors had was limited, but Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke did an excellent job with the parts. Not even that could save the film from the poor box office receipts or the director's cut.  Kiefer Sutherland plays a small role in the film, but he always brings something to the parts he plays.

The film has a gratuitous sex scene between Jolie and Hawke that was a bit tasteless. She's bumpin' the bone with Hawke against the wall, then to the table and finally lands in her bed. She's looking at the gory death photos of previous victims above her bed as Hawke continues his loving motions. He notices too and they keep going. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy seeing the Jolie topless at any time. I just thought the scene to long and contrived just for the view.

D.J. Caruso is a wonderful television director. He's done some great work with the televisions series, Angel; Smallville; The Shield; Robbery Homicide Division, and some others. His features tend go the other direction. The Salton Sea in 2002 wasn't good and Taking Lives isn't any better. Caruso may find that his niche is in television. He is currently filming "Two For the Money" due out in 2005. Money stars Al Pacino, Mathew McConaughey and Rene Russo. This one isn't going to be a breakthrough film either. 

VIDEO
The quality of the Video gets an A+. The images are sharp and the colors vibrant. There's no pixelation or wash out throughout the film. 

AUDIO
Like many films today the audio was shit. If you aren't watching the DVD on a surround sound system your screwed. The special effects and music are so much louder than the actors I spent the entire time bring the volume up and down. This cut was worse than many DVD's in that respect. I give the audio a C. If I was listening on the surround... it would earn a B. 

EXTRAS 
The DVD comes with four extra documentaries involving the cast and crew. 
* The Art of Collaboration: How the Filmmaking Team Came Together. 
* Profiling a Director: Inside D.J. Caruso's Mind
* Bodies of Evidence: Stars Confess Their Secrets of Working on an Ultra-Tense Thriller
* Puzzle Within The Puzzle: The Teamwork of Caruso and Veteran Editor Anne V. Coates. 
* There is also a GAG Reel and the theatrical trailer.

OVERALL VIEW 
I'll just say I didn't enjoy the film. I didn't find Taking Lives suspenseful, but it was predictable. I did enjoy watching Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke, but it wasn't enough for me to recommend the film to anyone. Jolie's nude scenes are always wonderful - she is a very nice looking lady when the tattoos are out of sight. If you were to cut the film in half and add some commercials it could have been a decent episode of With Out a Trace or some other drama series on television today. 

With Angelina Jolie you can bet most of the material she picks isn't going to make big money, though she has done some big budget films - Gone in 60 Seconds and the Laura Croft flicks first come to mind. Despite the talent for acting she just can't pick that one big money maker.  Her new flick with Ethan Hawke, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" could be that one film. 

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