Taking Lives (2004)

Extremely stylish and unique thriller that held my attention from the spectacular opening till the very last twisty moments of suspense.
Taking Lives was a very welcome surprise when i i first saw it. It has a stunning cast, very impressive production team behind it, Philip Glass as composer and most of all it has visually original style that is too often absent in these kind of thrillers. While Jon Bokenkamp's screenplay does not entirely come without its flaws, it still does not lose its strenght to hold your attention. It is true that there is possibly couple of cliches too many in the story and some of them could have been dropped out, but when Bokenkamp's script is in a trouble to collapse director D.J. Caruso makes it up with his visual capability.
What striked me the most here was all those nice touches of vintage Hitchcock which came in the form of cinematography and Philip Glass' fantastic score mostly. Caruso and his cinematographer Amir Mokri paints fantastic images with their camera and they even make a cliched car chase seem something fresh and new with their approach. Taking Lives also has an breathtaking pace as a film. When it begins it never loses it's focus or power to keep us second guessing.
Some could say that Taking Lives aims too much for the entertainment, but obviously, was it never intended to be nothing else than a well crafted entertainment? I most certainly can see that this is entertainment by all means but there is also some fantastic artistic touches in it too. Taking Lives resembles at times Brian De Palma's work which also has rare strenght to be entertaining and artistically ambitious work at the same time. Caruso is no De Palma but he has a great director inside him if he just lets it out.
I earlier mentioned the cast, which is simply outstanding, and Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Gena Rowlands, Tcheky Karyo and Kiefer Sutherland are all solid here. I especially enjoyed Hawke's meaty turn as a film's most complex character. Hawke is a great actor and this is one of his best performances by far. I also must give credit for Paul Dano who succeeds in making a lasting impression in a extremely disturbing little role.
Overall Taking Lives is a kinda film i often enjoy when it is made with great care and skill. It has style, it has artistic value, great cast, Hitcockian tones and screenplay that is good enogh to bring something fresh into the palette. This is highly overlooked and underrated film which deserves to be seen much more than it has been in a past years.