Taking Lives (film)
Encyclopedia
Taking Lives is a 2004 psychological thriller
film starring Angelina Jolie
and Ethan Hawke
. The film was marketed with the tagline "He would kill to be you."
The original music score was composed by Philip Glass
and the main title's theme was composed by Austrian Walter Werzowa
, best known for the Intel jingle and his work in the band Edelweiss
. The film was loosely adapted from a 1999 thriller novel
by Michael Pye of the same title
.
by Michael Pye. Numerous hands had a part in the screenplay as script doctor
s. The cover page of the screenplay credits Jon Bokenkamp with the original draft, Nicholas Kazan
with subsequent revisions, Hilary Seitz with more revisions, and David Ayer
with the last revisions (to February 28, 2003). The WGA screenwriting credit system
ultimately awarded screenplay and adaptation credit to Bokenkamp alone.
) is seen fleeing from home, taking a bus in Canada. He befriends another teen on the bus, Matt Soulsby (Justin Chatwin
) and the two talk about their plans for the future. When their bus breaks down, the two decide to rent a car and drive all the way to Seattle. While Matt is changing a flat tire, Martin comments on how he and Matt are both about the same height, and pushes Matt in the way of an oncoming truck. He is last seen taking Matt's guitar and walking away singing in the fashion that Matt had been in the car.
Twenty years later, a successful FBI profiler, Illeana Scott (Angelina Jolie
), is summoned to help out Canadian
law enforcement in Montreal
, to apprehend Asher, who has been killing people for years and assuming their identities as he travels across North America
. Illeana has to adjust to working in a strange city with a police team that she does not really fit in with. Meanwhile, Mrs. Asher (Gena Rowlands
), Martin's mother, claims she has recently seen her son in Montreal and tells the police she truly believes Martin is evil.
The team meets with art salesman James Costa (Hawke), an eyewitness who saw Asher kill his last victim. James makes a drawing of Asher and, within a couple of days, Asher is found. Illeana discovers Asher's next target is Costa, so protecting him is priority number one. During the time they spend together, Illeana and James begin to develop feelings for each other, though Illeana refuses to become involved with him because of the ongoing case.
After kidnapping Costa with Illeana in pursuit, Asher supposedly dies in a car accident and the case is closed. As Illeana is packing up in preparation to return home, Costa visits her in her motel room. Without saying anything, he undresses her and they make passionate love on a chest of drawers and the bed, surrounded by gruesome crime scene photos. The next morning, Illeana awakes to find herself partly covered in Costa's blood. At first, she fears he is dead, but then he awakes and they discover he had merely popped the stitches in his arm that he needed following the accident.
As Costa has his stitches re-sewn in the hospital, Illeana is called down to the morgue as Mrs. Asher has come to identify the exhumed
body presumed to be her son. However, the body turns out not to be her son's; Martin is still alive somewhere. A terrified Mrs. Asher flees the morgue and into the elevator, but before Illeana can follow her in, the doors shut. When they finally open, Illeana sees James covered in blood, standing over Mrs. Asher's mutilated corpse, and realizes Costa is Asher, that Asher killed the actual Costa months ago. Horrified by the discovery that she had slept with a serial killer
, Illeana almost faints as the police unsuccessfully try to prevent Asher from escaping the hospital. Illeana later returns to her motel room and frantically washes herself, in a state of manic disgust. An investigation shows that the man the real Costa had identified as Asher was really Christopher Hart (Kiefer Sutherland
), an art thief who did business with Asher, who had nothing to do with the murders. The Montreal police chase Asher, but he escapes in a train station and disappears, and approaches his next victim, a traveling sports talent scout. After that, he calls Illeana on the phone and makes fun of her. Through listening in on the conversation, the Montreal detectives discover that Illeana had sex with Asher. Consequently, she is fired from the FBI.
Seven months later, Illeana is living in a desolate farmhouse by herself in rural Pennsylvania and looking heavily pregnant with Asher's twin boys. One day as she sits alone in her home, she discovers Asher has broken into her house. She frantically tries to escape, but Asher overpowers her, punching her and throwing her to the ground. Asher tells her he could live as a family with her, and a disgusted Illeana tells him she does not know who he is, that she is carrying 'James Costa's' babies. In fury, Asher begins choking her and eventually stabs her in her pregnant belly with a pair of scissors. Illeana, seemingly unharmed by the stabbing, shocks Asher by quickly stabbing him in the heart with the same scissors. As Asher lies dying, Illeana removes a prosthetic pregnant belly, and tells him the past seven months have been a carefully planned trap. The film ends with Illeana calling the police, saying "It's over," and staring out her window.
gave it three out of four stars, describing it as "an effective thriller, on its modest but stylish level". Total Film
, a UK film magazine, gave it two stars out of five with the following verdict: "Starting off well but rapidly losing its way, Taking Lives is more cereal-killer flick than serial killer -- we've been fed this mush a thousand times."
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
film starring Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
and Ethan Hawke
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...
. The film was marketed with the tagline "He would kill to be you."
The original music score was composed by Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
and the main title's theme was composed by Austrian Walter Werzowa
Walter Werzowa
Walter Werzowa is an Austrian composer, producer and owner of LA-based music production studio Musikvergnuegen. He is most famous for composing the "Intel bong" jingle and the '80s hit "Bring Me Edelweiss" as part of the band Edelweiss....
, best known for the Intel jingle and his work in the band Edelweiss
Edelweiss (band)
Edelweiss was an Austrian electronica/dance band consisting of remixers Martin Gletschermayer, Matthias Schweger and Walter Werzowa. The group is best known for their 1988 worldwide hit "Bring Me Edelweiss", and their European hit "Starship Edelweiss"....
. The film was loosely adapted from a 1999 thriller novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Michael Pye of the same title
Taking Lives
Taking Lives is a 1999 thriller novel by Michael Pye about an FBI profiler in search of a serial killer who assumes the identities of his victims...
.
Story and writing credit
The film was based on the novel of the same titleTaking Lives
Taking Lives is a 1999 thriller novel by Michael Pye about an FBI profiler in search of a serial killer who assumes the identities of his victims...
by Michael Pye. Numerous hands had a part in the screenplay as script doctor
Script doctor
A script doctor, also called script consultant, is a highly-skilled screenwriter, hired by a film or television production, to rewrite or polish specific aspects of an existing screenplay, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, theme, and other elements...
s. The cover page of the screenplay credits Jon Bokenkamp with the original draft, Nicholas Kazan
Nicholas Kazan
Nicholas Kazan is an American writer, producer and director. He is the son of director Elia Kazan and his first wife, playwright Mary Day Thacher Kazan. He married Robin Swicord, a writer, producer, actress, and director in 1984. His daughter is the actress Zoe Kazan.Kazan, also a noted...
with subsequent revisions, Hilary Seitz with more revisions, and David Ayer
David Ayer
David Ayer is an American screenwriter, film producer and film director.-Early life:David Ayer was born in Champaign, Illinois in 1968. He grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota and Bethesda, Maryland, where he was kicked out of his house by his parents as a teenager...
with the last revisions (to February 28, 2003). The WGA screenwriting credit system
WGA screenwriting credit system
In the United States, screenwriting credit for motion pictures and television programs under its jurisdiction is determined by either the Writers Guild of America, East or the Writers Guild of America, West . Since 1941, the Guilds have been the final arbiter of who receives credit for writing a...
ultimately awarded screenplay and adaptation credit to Bokenkamp alone.
Plot
The film opens in the early 1980s where teenager Martin Asher (Paul DanoPaul Dano
Paul Franklin Dano is an American actor and producer. He has appeared in films such as L.I.E. , The Girl Next Door , Little Miss Sunshine , There Will Be Blood , and Where the Wild Things Are .-Early life:Dano was born in New York City, the son of Gladys and Paul Dano...
) is seen fleeing from home, taking a bus in Canada. He befriends another teen on the bus, Matt Soulsby (Justin Chatwin
Justin Chatwin
Justin Chatwin is a Canadian film actor. He played the son of Tom Cruise's character in the Steven Spielberg-directed War of the Worlds, a leading role in the 2007 mystery/thriller The Invisible, and Goku in Dragonball Evolution...
) and the two talk about their plans for the future. When their bus breaks down, the two decide to rent a car and drive all the way to Seattle. While Matt is changing a flat tire, Martin comments on how he and Matt are both about the same height, and pushes Matt in the way of an oncoming truck. He is last seen taking Matt's guitar and walking away singing in the fashion that Matt had been in the car.
Twenty years later, a successful FBI profiler, Illeana Scott (Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
), is summoned to help out Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
law enforcement in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, to apprehend Asher, who has been killing people for years and assuming their identities as he travels across North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Illeana has to adjust to working in a strange city with a police team that she does not really fit in with. Meanwhile, Mrs. Asher (Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
), Martin's mother, claims she has recently seen her son in Montreal and tells the police she truly believes Martin is evil.
The team meets with art salesman James Costa (Hawke), an eyewitness who saw Asher kill his last victim. James makes a drawing of Asher and, within a couple of days, Asher is found. Illeana discovers Asher's next target is Costa, so protecting him is priority number one. During the time they spend together, Illeana and James begin to develop feelings for each other, though Illeana refuses to become involved with him because of the ongoing case.
After kidnapping Costa with Illeana in pursuit, Asher supposedly dies in a car accident and the case is closed. As Illeana is packing up in preparation to return home, Costa visits her in her motel room. Without saying anything, he undresses her and they make passionate love on a chest of drawers and the bed, surrounded by gruesome crime scene photos. The next morning, Illeana awakes to find herself partly covered in Costa's blood. At first, she fears he is dead, but then he awakes and they discover he had merely popped the stitches in his arm that he needed following the accident.
As Costa has his stitches re-sewn in the hospital, Illeana is called down to the morgue as Mrs. Asher has come to identify the exhumed
Exhumed
Exhumed may refer to:*Exhumation*Exhumed , a first-person shooter*Exhumed , a deathgrind band* Exhumed Films, a Philadelphia-based "organization* Exhumed river channel, a ridge of sandstone...
body presumed to be her son. However, the body turns out not to be her son's; Martin is still alive somewhere. A terrified Mrs. Asher flees the morgue and into the elevator, but before Illeana can follow her in, the doors shut. When they finally open, Illeana sees James covered in blood, standing over Mrs. Asher's mutilated corpse, and realizes Costa is Asher, that Asher killed the actual Costa months ago. Horrified by the discovery that she had slept with a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
, Illeana almost faints as the police unsuccessfully try to prevent Asher from escaping the hospital. Illeana later returns to her motel room and frantically washes herself, in a state of manic disgust. An investigation shows that the man the real Costa had identified as Asher was really Christopher Hart (Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
), an art thief who did business with Asher, who had nothing to do with the murders. The Montreal police chase Asher, but he escapes in a train station and disappears, and approaches his next victim, a traveling sports talent scout. After that, he calls Illeana on the phone and makes fun of her. Through listening in on the conversation, the Montreal detectives discover that Illeana had sex with Asher. Consequently, she is fired from the FBI.
Seven months later, Illeana is living in a desolate farmhouse by herself in rural Pennsylvania and looking heavily pregnant with Asher's twin boys. One day as she sits alone in her home, she discovers Asher has broken into her house. She frantically tries to escape, but Asher overpowers her, punching her and throwing her to the ground. Asher tells her he could live as a family with her, and a disgusted Illeana tells him she does not know who he is, that she is carrying 'James Costa's' babies. In fury, Asher begins choking her and eventually stabs her in her pregnant belly with a pair of scissors. Illeana, seemingly unharmed by the stabbing, shocks Asher by quickly stabbing him in the heart with the same scissors. As Asher lies dying, Illeana removes a prosthetic pregnant belly, and tells him the past seven months have been a carefully planned trap. The film ends with Illeana calling the police, saying "It's over," and staring out her window.
Cast
- Angelina JolieAngelina JolieAngelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
as Illeana Scott - Ethan HawkeEthan HawkeEthan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...
as James Costa/Martin Asher - Kiefer SutherlandKiefer SutherlandKiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
as Christopher Hart - Gena RowlandsGena RowlandsGena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
as Mrs. Rebecca Asher - Olivier MartinezOlivier MartinezOlivier Martinez is a French film actor. He became known after roles in several French films such as Un, deux, trois, soleil , which garnered him the César Award for "Most Promising Actor", The Horseman on the Roof , and The Chambermaid on the Titanic...
as Joseph Paquette - Tchéky KaryoTchéky Karyo-Early life:Karyo was born in Istanbul to a Greek mother and Sephardic-Jewish father and raised in Paris, France. He studied drama at the Cyrano Theatre and later became a member of the Daniel Sorano Company, playing many classical roles.-Career:...
as Hugo Leclair - Jean-Hugues AngladeJean-Hugues AngladeJean-Hugues Anglade is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, best known for his roles as Eric in Killing Zoe, Zorg in Betty Blue and Marco, the boyfriend of Nikita, in Nikita....
as Emil Duval - Paul DanoPaul DanoPaul Franklin Dano is an American actor and producer. He has appeared in films such as L.I.E. , The Girl Next Door , Little Miss Sunshine , There Will Be Blood , and Where the Wild Things Are .-Early life:Dano was born in New York City, the son of Gladys and Paul Dano...
as Young Martin Asher - Justin ChatwinJustin ChatwinJustin Chatwin is a Canadian film actor. He played the son of Tom Cruise's character in the Steven Spielberg-directed War of the Worlds, a leading role in the 2007 mystery/thriller The Invisible, and Goku in Dragonball Evolution...
as Matt Soulsby - André Lacoste as Cashier
- Billy Two RiversBilly Two RiversBilly Two Rivers , born May 5, 1935, is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. He began wrestling professionally in 1953 and competed until 1977. During his career, he wrestled in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Canada. After retiring from wrestling, he became a leader of the...
as Car Salesman - Richard Lemire as Québec City Cop
- Julien PoulinJulien PoulinJulien Poulin is an actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer, and composer in Quebec, Canada. He has portrayed numerous roles in several popular Quebec films and series...
as Québec City Inspector - Marie-Josée CrozeMarie-Josée Croze-Career:Croze was born in Montreal, QC. She won the award for Best Actress at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in The Barbarian Invasions. She was cast by prominent Hollywood director Steven Spielberg for his film Munich which was released in December 2005...
as Medical Examiner - Emmanuel Bilodeau as Doctor
- Christian TessierChristian TessierChristian Tessier is a Canadian actor.Tessier first came to television in 1989 on the Canadian children's show You Can't Do That On Television and notably appeared in the 1990s remake of The Tomorrow People, and the motion picture adaptation of Battlefield Earth...
as Interrogation Officer
Critical response
The film has received mostly poor reviews. Film critic Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave it three out of four stars, describing it as "an effective thriller, on its modest but stylish level". Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
, a UK film magazine, gave it two stars out of five with the following verdict: "Starting off well but rapidly losing its way, Taking Lives is more cereal-killer flick than serial killer -- we've been fed this mush a thousand times."