Taking Lives   

Illeana: Angelina Jolie

Costa: Ethan Hawke

Hart: Kiefer Sutherland

Mrs. Asher: Gena Rowlands

Paquette: Olivier Martinez

Directed by D.J. Caruso

Screenplay by Jon Bokenkamp

Based on the novel by Michael Pye

I'm beginning to wonder if Angelina Jolie can star in anything that doesn't involve her character being a little off-kilter.  It is almost to the point where a fairly straight-up role has to be given an added touch of weirdness for Jolie to qualify for it.  When we first meet Jolie's character, FBI agent, Illeana Scott, she is lying in the makeshift grave of the newly dug up corpse.  Later she posts autopsy and crime scene photos over her bed so she can stare at them at length.  All of this is used solely to give Jolie her familiar quirkiness in another role, as the tenuous connection it attempts to make with the killer is unconvincing.

Taking Lives is about the hunt for a serial killer after finding a rare witness (Ethan Hawke) who saw the killer committing his latest crime.  The film is set in Montreal and the American agent Scott is called in to help on the case.  Olivier Martinez plays one of the two cops she begins to help, and he is instantly annoyed at the fact that she was called in the first place.  It could either be because she is a woman or an American, but the movie never explains why or even seems to think that it is important.  In other words, it's only there to provide a meaningless subplot to provide laughs when he makes fun of her or tension among the fellow investigators.

There is a nice spooky undercurrent running throughout the movie that keeps you on your toes, but the plot then goes for twists that are both obvious and fairly predictable.  Director D.J. Caruso then feels the need to insert needless scenes of flashback to explain everything as if those things weren't already apparent to the audience.

The biggest jolt or scare that comes from the movie is one that makes absolutely no sense in the structure of the story.  Agent Scott goes back to the childhood home of the killer they are after and makes some startling discoveries.  The scene itself is effectively creepy, but Caruso feels the need to throw in something extra to get a reaction.  It is completely unnecessary and feels that everybody was there at that specific place for the sole purpose of scaring the audience.  It works in that respect, but it's cheap and condescending. 

The unfortunate thing is that it feels like Taking Lives could have been a taut, entertaining thriller.  And there are some interesting moments in the film.  But instead of trying to get under our skin with tension, Caruso goes for the "balloon pop" to get reactions, and the movie suffers because of it.