Great Film: Taking Lives
Predictable For Movie Buffs, But Still Enjoyable.
If I had to write a one sentence review for Taking Lives, it would be,
"If you have seen a ridiculous amount of thriller movies and have seen
all the twists and turns before, then this movie is very predictable,
if you haven't, it is worth a look and you may even be surprised." For
those that want more, please read on.
I believe the casting for this movie was as close to perfect as they
were going to get. Angelina Jolie stars as FBI Agent Illeana Scott.
Illeana has both strengths and weaknesses,which are both done in the
right way. She is a very smart detective and can pick up clues that
many could not and leads the way to many places that the other
detectives would never have found. She does not come off as the
hardened, tough cop that would have made this movie much worse.
Instead, she usually gets the short end of the stick when forced to do
physical battle with lowlifes and even other cops. She is flawed and
vulnerable but can put up a hell of a fight when needed but relies on
her brain to beat a larger and stronger foe. For an example of how to
do this the wrong way, see Ashley Judd (of whom I'm also a fan of) in
Twisted.
Olivier Martinez plays a character I find hard to like at any part of
the film named Paquette. Paquette is a Canadian cop who has issues with
bringing the FBI in (I'm not sure if the FBI actually assists in
Canadian affairs, but this is just a movie). Olivier seems likable as a
person and I'm not familiar with his work, as I'm sure it is mostly
French. I'll chalk it up to good acting.
Keifer Sutherland had only what seemed to be a bit part here and could
have been used a bit more. He was probably in and out in 2 days of
filming.
And finally, Ethan Hawke did a fine job for his role, but I think they
could have made a better choice for this character.
As I said earlier, those of us who see many of these types of movies
will probably see most of the twists before they happen. Many of them
well before they happen. Some of you will know everything that's going
to happen before it happens, such as I did, but I still think it was a
good story and was entertained. I can honestly recommend this one for
at least a rental.
Cast
- Illeana played by Angelina Jolie
- Hart played by Kiefer Sutherland
- Costa played by Ethan Hawke
- Leclair played by Tchéky Karyo
- Duval played by Jean-hugues Anglade
- Medical Examiner played by Marie-josée Croze
- Paquette played by Olivier Martinez
