TAKING LIVES

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: nudity, sexual content, language, gruesome images

Rated:

Not a bad thriller but one that doesn't quite exceed expectations, Taking Lives opens with a charming scene on a county road. Two boys board the bus. They make friends. They get off and take a road trip together, both escaping pasts they have no desire to relive. The car breaks down. One boy gets on his knees to change the tire and the other, in a moment of dawning recognition of how similar they are, complacently kicks his companion in the way of an oncoming truck. There is a horrific accident. The remaining boy takes his friend's identification and luggage, and sets out across the fields.

Twenty years later, a body is dug up in Montreal, Canada. It's the latest in a line of serial killings, always loner men who either won't be missed for awhile or have no close friends and family. Local law enforcement has been engaged but they've also called in a female FBI agent, Illeana (Angelina Jolie), who specializes in cases of psychopathic murderers. She hasn't been present but a week before another man is killed, this time with a witness nearby. Costa (Ethan Hawke) saw a burly blonde beating his victim's head in with a rock. He scared him off and called the paramedics, but the victim was dead before they reached the hospital. A local artist with surprisingly apt talents, he is able to recreate a face for them. It leads them to a suspicious individual (Kiefer Sutherland) who has been seen loitering around Costa's apartment. Illeana has good instincts and a tough cop exterior and soon begins to unravel a sordid tale of stolen identities.

Their serial killer has been living other lives. He cannot stand to be himself even for an instant, and therefore he outgrows one life and moves on to another when it best suits him. His victims all have something in common -- they're around his age (increasing with each killing) and are loners. They also have an idea of who he might be -- Marty, one half of a pair of twin boys born to Mrs. Asher (Gina Rowlands). Having just returned from a trip abroad, she could swear she saw her son on the ferry. The only problem is that he died twenty years before! As Illeana searches for the truth and a means of catching this murderous fiend, she fears their investigation may cost Costa his life. Her feelings for him are increasing and may lead both down a dangerous path.

While every thriller has been done before, this one is unique for its premise: the notion of taking lives in order to avoid living your own has long been fodder for psychologists. There's a hearty dose of related information and the outcome requires a great deal of thought. After the closing credits, you still must sort out the truth from fabrication. I knew what was coming because I'm very good at following subtle clues and knowing the nature of thrillers, this one wasn't all that difficult to figure out. However, they did shock even me with some smaller, more subtle twists and turns that I wasn't anticipating, so viewers are certain to be shocked on several occasions regardless of how fast-thinking you are. I highly enjoyed it since it's the genre of production that appeals to me, but did feel that it was clichéd in some respects, particularly the love story involved. It's also very disturbing since it centers so much around violent deaths.

Victims have their heads bashed in and hands cut off. Numerous times we're shown examples of grisly photos and actual dead, mutilated bodies. One is dug up in a construction site, another drops from the ceiling. A severed finger is found in a paper bag among other trinkets. An older woman is killed in an elevator; the doors open to show blood all across the floor, and on her assailant's hands. In a horrific car accident a four-seater slams into the rear end of a truck. The driver flies partially through the window, with gruesome results. The car is then incinerated. We see his burned remains at the morgue. In the opening scene we see a boy hit by a car, smash through the windshield, and ricochet off onto the pavement, where he lies in a mangled mess gasping and gurgling with blood until Marty calmly bashes his head in with a rock (unseen). The tuck that hit him spirals off into the ditch, killing the people inside. In a particularly violent sequence, a man slaps, shoves around, attempts to strangle with a piano wire, and otherwise harm a pregnant woman. A man is dispatched by having a pair of sewing scissors plunged into his heart.

A man's naked body is shown from the side in a morgue. Illeana mentions that the body mutilations are sexual and "turn the killer on." A joke is made about a cop's wife's breast size. Once the case is closed, Illeana and Costa have sex in her hotel room. It's very graphic and involves breast nudity and movement. The f-word is used sexually several times, and also to punctuate sentences. I counted about 18 times, along with mild profanities, abuse of deity, and two harsh abuses of Jesus' name. I wish the content hadn't been so offensive since it's an intriguing thriller with a nice twist at the end.

© www.charitysplace.com - all rights reserved.