Opening

73% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
21% The Hangover Part III May 23
63% Epic May 24
97% Before Midnight May 24
88% We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks May 24
83% Fill the Void May 24
17% A Green Story May 24
—— Alyce Kills May 24

Top Box Office

87% Star Trek Into Darkness $70.2M
78% Iron Man 3 $35.8M
50% The Great Gatsby $23.9M
46% Pain & Gain $3.2M
69% The Croods $3.0M
77% 42 $2.8M
55% Oblivion $2.3M
99% Mud $2.2M
36% Peeples $2.2M
8% The Big Wedding $1.2M

Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31
89% The East May 31

Taking Lives (2004)

tomatometer

22

Average Rating: 4.6/10
Reviews Counted: 157
Fresh: 35 | Rotten: 122

A stylish, but predictable thriller where the only thrills are offered by the sensuous Angelina Jolie.

26

Average Rating: 4.7/10
Critic Reviews: 39
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 29

A stylish, but predictable thriller where the only thrills are offered by the sensuous Angelina Jolie.

audience

61

liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 68,336

My Rating

Movie Info

A female detective on the trail of a psychotic killer discovers love in a dangerous time in this thriller, based on the novel by Michael Pye. Illeana Scott (Angelina Jolie) is a special agent with the FBI who has a reputation for using offbeat methods, but also boasts a strong record as a criminal profiler. Scott is called in by a former Quantico colleague (Tcheky Karyo) to assist two Canadian police detectives, Paquette (Olivier Martinez) and Duval (Jean-Hugues Anglade), who are on the trail of

R,

Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

,

Jon Bokenkamp

Aug 17, 2004

$32.6M

Warner Bros. - Official Site External Icon

Watch It Now

Cast

ADVERTISEMENT

All Critics (167) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (125) | DVD (31)

If you can buy the pillow-lipped Angelina Jolie as a psychic FBI agent in Montreal to hunt a serial killer, then you can swallow the other implausibilities in this retread thriller.

March 25, 2004
Rolling Stone
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Jolie is far too good for this tripe but she does give the film its only believable moments, and for the first half, her concentration makes you watch her intently.

March 21, 2004 Full Review Source: Salon.com
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Nosedive it does, abandoning all pretense of style and eccentricity for at-times laughable predictability.

March 19, 2004
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Would have to work nights to reach mediocrity.

March 19, 2004
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

While not breaking any new ground, director D.J. Caruso's movie also doesn't disappoint.

March 19, 2004 Full Review Source: Toronto Star
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Caruso is a much more resourceful director than this material deserves, but I resented being two steps ahead of the genius profiler and the genius serial-killer.

March 19, 2004 Full Review Source: Slate
Slate
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A couple of genuine thrills but not for kids.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

Willfully stupid and obvious for most of its running time, this serial-killer thriller lulls the audience into one gasp-worthy, rug-pulling moment that, while stupid, isn't exactly obvious. [Blu-ray]

May 20, 2009 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews
Groucho Reviews

...too much of Taking Lives is too ordinary, including the Blu-ray transfer. (Blu-ray Edition)

April 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

Could very well be mistaken for an Ashley Judd programmer.

December 29, 2008 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com
TheMovieReport.com

A production which would rather scare its audience with gore than reel it in via a gripping whodunit.

April 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Princeton Town Topics
Princeton Town Topics

The film's villain may take fictitious lives, but the film itself takes up real time that could be spent on better things.

November 2, 2006
Christianity Today

Taking Lives won't kill you, but it will steal precious hours you'll never have back.

May 4, 2005 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness
Lessons of Darkness

poor excuse for audience to waste time on a thriller whose makers have problems with understanding the meaning of the word "thrill".

March 2, 2005 Full Review

Audience Reviews for Taking Lives

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.
January 7, 2012
emilkakko

Super Reviewer

There are times knowing the schedule is detrimental to watching the movie. The movie sort of ended - they had the bad guy, but there was still 20 minutes left in the time slot! Sure enough the cops had it wrong, and Angelina Jolie had to save the day.
October 22, 2012
Redlats

Super Reviewer

No quotes approved yet for Taking Lives. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Discussion Forum

Topic Last Post Replies
Why is Tony Scott given 1/2 Director's credit for this film? 44 days ago 0

Latest News on Taking Lives

June 7, 2007:
Has Fox Chosen a "Wolverine" Director?
According to one source, the studio has the "Wolverine" director's job down to a lead...

March 13, 2006:
Shia LaBeouf Will Star In DreamWorks' "Disturbia"
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Shia LaBeouf ("The Greatest Game Ever Played") will star in...

April 14, 2005:
Actors Sign Up for a Taste of "Blood and Chocolate"
Annette Curtis Klause's "Blood and Chocolate" is being adapted for the big screen,...

Help | About | Jobs | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Mobile